Former PRC Rocket Force General Visits OneSpace Private Rocket Company After March 2019 Launch Failure

A number of at least nominally private companies in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are currently contending to raise to the same level of prominence in the global launch industry as SpaceX in the United States. After one of these companies, OneSpace, suffered a failure as its OS-M solid fuel rocket began the third stage of its launch in March 2019, Zhang Xiang (张翔), a retired PRC general from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Rocket Force and eldest son of one of the PRC’s former Ministers of Defense, visited it the next month in April. According to OneSpace’s public release about the visit, General Zhang Xiang did nothing more than offer words of encouragement. In light of his prominent military background, though, it is highly possible that the visit came with implications for OneSpace’s future business transactions with the PRC government and military as well.

During his career, Zhang Xiang reached the rank of Lieutenant General in the PLA’s Rocket Force (at that time known as the 2nd Artillery Corps), which fields most if not all of the PRC’s nuclear arsenal. Zhang Xiang also served during his career as a member of the National Committee in the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, which is basically an advisory body in the PRC legislature. Public sector leaders, and increasingly prominent private sector businessmen as well, often serve in that capacity. In light of the fact that General Zhang Xiang’s father, Zhang…