Vulcan raises tens of millions of yuan to build China's rocket-hauling trucks
What's the deal? Yangzhou-based VulcanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed an early-stage round worth tens of millions of yuan, backed by Touhold Donghai (Shenzhen Investment Holdings)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Founded in 2016, the company designs and builds specialised transport vehicles for oversized, overweight cargo across aerospace, defence, heavy engineering, and wind-power sectors.
What's the endgame? Vulcan focuses on what it calls "five-super" cargo — ultra-tall, ultra-long, ultra-wide, ultra-heavy, and ultra-precise. Its multifunction vehicles carry up to 800 tonnes, while its self-propelled modular transporters handle 120 to 1,000 tonnes and drive without a tractor unit.
What's the track record? In 2024, Vulcan supported ground operations for a Long March 8 launch at Wenchang, completing what it describes as China's first vertical road transport of a rocket. In 2025, it provided long-haul vehicles for LandSpace's Zhuque-3 — designed for a 4.5m-diameter rocket body and tested over 4,000km of highway — and won contracts to move C919 wings and C909 aircraft.
The Japan angle: Overseas work is a major revenue stream. Vulcan says it is the only Chinese firm able to export complete specialised transport vehicles to Japan, where the market accounts for roughly 50% of its business, with annual demand of about 500 vehicles.
Why now? China's launch sector is scaling fast. The country recorded 93 orbital launches in 2025, roughly half of them commercial, with new launch-site capacity and policy support aimed at more frequent operations. That growth — plus the shift toward reusable rockets — is lifting demand for ground equipment and transport, not just the vehicles that reach orbit.
What could go wrong? General manager Zhu Qi'an flags order volatility as a core challenge. "This industry's orders carry uncertainty," he said, noting that without steady customers and long-term market knowledge, demand is hard to forecast. Each shipment often requires bespoke engineering, raising costs and execution risk.
The signal: The round is a small but strategically placed bet on aerospace supply-chain infrastructure rather than on a rocket maker. Its significance will hinge on whether Vulcan can convert project-based contracts into recurring demand as launch activity climbs.
Read more: 36kr.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
