Beijing, February 2026 — Welight announced today the successful manufacturing and validation of China's first engineering prototype of a carbon‑fiber composite common bulkhead tank for liquid oxygen/methane propulsion systems. The prototype, which underwent final testing at the company’s Hejian Pilot Base, represents a national technological breakthrough and accelerates China's shift toward lightweight, rapid‑cycle, and cost‑effective propellant tank production.

This achievement establishes China's engineering readiness in advanced composite tank technology, positioning the country in the emerging global race alongside leading developers in the United States and Europe.

As the country’s first realized carbon‑fiber common bulkhead tank prototype, the milestone carries significant strategic implications:

• It establishes a fully independent technology system for composite cryogenic tanks, moving beyond conventional metallic‑tank approaches.

• It elevates industrial‑chain capabilities across materials development, structural design, and advanced manufacturing.

• It provides critical hardware support for next‑generation launch vehicles requiring low‑cost, high‑cadence operations.

Compared with traditional metallic tanks, the new composite tank offers transformative improvements:

• 30% reduction in structural mass, directly enhancing launch vehicle mass efficiency and supporting future reusable rocket architectures.

• A scalable production cycle of 18–20 days — approximately 90% shorter than conventional methods — enabling weekly‑level delivery to sustain high‑frequency launch campaigns.

• Projected production costs roughly 30% lower than those of equivalent metallic tanks, contributing to lower overall launch expenses.

The tank employs a linerless, all‑carbon‑fiber design utilizing T800‑grade prepreg, departing from legacy metallic configurations. By exploiting the anisotropic tailoring capability of composite materials, the engineering team optimized ply orientation, thickness distribution, and ply‑drop sequences across the cylindrical section, domes, and skirts. Critical regions — including interface attachments and internal anti‑slosh/vortex structures — received localized reinforcement, achieving a tightly integrated balance of structural performance, functional requirements, and manufacturability.

To address the coupled challenges of manufacturing process and performance validation, Welight established a fully in‑house capability chain — encompassing expert‑led process definition, a dedicated production team, and internally designed/manufactured tooling and molds — ensuring comprehensive quality control from material receipt to finished hardware.

The successful delivery and testing of this prototype not only overcome key technical barriers in composite cryogenic tank development but also demonstrate a fully autonomous technology pathway spanning material formulation, structural design, and manufacturing execution. As the commercial space sector expands, lightweight, high‑performance tank systems will be essential to improving launch vehicle efficiency and reducing mission costs. Welight's achievement reinforces China's growing role in next‑generation aerospace technology and provides a foundational capability for future reusable launch systems and heavy‑lift vehicles.