Huang Jingyu Set to Head to Space, Says It’s an Honor to Fly Aboard China’s Own Spacecraft Ahead of the Planned 2028 First Crewed Mission

On January 22, @interstellOr (穿越者) officially announced that actor Johnny Huang Jingyu has joined as Space Tourist No. 009. In a recorded message, Huang said he feels honored to become a space traveler and looks forward to personally reaching the “sea of stars” aboard a spacecraft built by China.

The company’s official promotional image was released alongside the announcement.

Reporters learned on January 22 that Beijing InterstellOr Crewed Spaceflight Technology Co., Ltd. (穿越者) is targeting 2028 for the first crewed flight of its “InterstellOr One” (CYZ1) spacecraft—positioned as China’s first commercial crewed spacecraft.

According to previous updates from the company, InterstellOr has already opened ticket pre-sales, with each seat priced at RMB 3 million. A 10% deposit can secure a reservation, and the company says it has signed more than a dozen paying space tourists from a wide range of fields, including academia, business, the aerospace sector, the arts, entertainment, online creators, and more.

InterstellOr also announced that Qiu Heng, CMO of AgiBot (智元機器人), has become “China’s No. 001 commercial astronaut.” Qiu reportedly purchased China’s first commercial “space ticket” at his own expense in 2023, becoming the first contracted passenger for a suborbital flight. He noted that humanoid and quadruped robots can unlock virtually unlimited productivity—accelerating applications across industry and commerce—and may eventually support humanity in expanding into new frontiers.

In November 2023, InterstellOr said it signed its first space tourism customer. The company has since named additional contracted passengers, including Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Li Liqing, US-based poet Lin Xiaoyan, Xie Meng (Vice Chairman and CEO of Guangzhou Grandview Group), Galactic Energy CEO Liu Baiqi, and an aerospace-focused influencer known as “@NASA Enthusiast,” among others.

On January 18, InterstellOr stated that the CYZ1 crewed spacecraft full-scale test capsule completed an integrated verification test of its landing impact-attenuation system. The company described this as the first full-size test-capsule validation project in China’s commercial space sector focused on key landing-buffer technologies for a crewed spacecraft. InterstellOr added that the successful test marks it as the world’s third commercial space company to develop and validate landing-buffer technology for a crewed spacecraft.

Company materials show that InterstellOr was founded in January 2023 and describes itself as China’s first commercial “crewed spaceflight technology” company. It focuses on developing reusable crewed spacecraft and operating space tourism services, aiming to complete the development of a reusable suborbital crewed spacecraft within 3–4 years and to enable space tourism in China—and potentially across Asia—around 2028.