Alibaba to test rocket parcel delivery service in lofty attempt to ship goods anywhere in the world within an hour

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding is partnering with a domestic rocket developer, with the lofty goal of delivering parcels anywhere in the world within an hour.

The experiment, to be co-conducted by Alibaba's Taobao marketplace and Beijing-based start-up Space Epoch, will take place "in the near future" using a reusable rocket that can land on the sea, according to a Sunday post by Space Epoch on its official WeChat account.

Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, confirmed the information on Monday, saying that "many great endeavours seem like a joke at first".

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The rocket, designated XZY-1, will provide cargo space of 120 square metres, and has the ability to carry as much as 10 tonnes, including items like "a car or a small-sized lorry", the Space Epoch post said.

But the company admitted that it "won't be easy to achieve the goal in the short term". "This should be a great and significant exploration for a long term", it said.

Alibaba has been improving its logistics services amid fierce competition at home and abroad. In March, it expanded its "five-day delivery" service to the United States, allowing buyers on the AliExpress e-commerce platform to receive orders within that period of time, with deliveries carried out by Alibaba's logistics unit Cainiao Smart Logistics Network.

Cainiao launched the five-day delivery service last year, and has since enlarged the coverage to markets including Germany, France, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

Alibaba's shopping apps Taobao and 1688 are pictured on a mobile phone in Beijing, March 26, 2024. Photo: Simon Song

Founded in 2019, Space Epoch has a mission to use space resources with "safety, efficiency and sustainability", developing recyclable rockets to meet "flight-like, civilian demands", according to its past social media posts.

The start-up has completed three funding rounds of more than 300 million yuan (US$41.5 million). Investors included GSR Vision Capital and Jinsha Capital.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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