Hu Zhenyu (FILE)

Hu Zhenyu, founder and CEO of China's first private rocket-launching firm Link Space, has recently gained wide attention for his lofty goals.

The Shenzhen-based company aims to put a launch vehicle with a diameter of more than 3 meters into space by 2021. Its business plan also envisions point-to-point sub-orbital manned transportation, which would enable passengers to fly from Hong Kong to California in about 30 minutes.

The 21-year-old Hu successfully launched a sounding rocket to a height of 4 km in a desert in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in July last year, the first such rocket made by university students in China. He is from Jiujiang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, and graduated from the South China University of Technology in June.

Despite his ambitious plans, Hu's company is facing serious obstacles, such as inadequate funding and blurry government regulations regarding rocket launches by individuals or civil organizations.