Commercial aerospace companies accelerate their IPOs: LandSpace's IPO application accepted, trillion-dollar industry welcomes policy "tailwind"

Recently, the Shanghai Stock Exchange official website showed that Blue Arrow Aerospace Space Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Blue Arrow Aerospace”) has its application for listing on the STAR Market accepted. The company plans to raise 7.5 billion yuan, with China International Capital Corporation serving as the sponsor.

Since 2025, a race to compete for the title of “First Commercial Space Stock” has quietly begun. According to incomplete statistics, several companies such as GalaxySpace, GalaxyPower, Tianbing Technology, and CAS Space have disclosed progress in IPO guidance, aiming to list on the A-shares market; Guoxing Aerospace and Fuxin Futong are eyeing the Hong Kong stock market.

The pace of listing for commercial space companies is accelerating, aligning with the policy rhythm of the capital market supporting “hard technology.” On December 26, 2025, the Shanghai Stock Exchange issued the “Guideline for the Application of the Ninth Version of the Listing Review Rules for Issuance and Listing—Applicable to Commercial Rocket Companies on the STAR Market” (hereinafter referred to as the “Guideline”), supporting commercial rocket companies in the critical period of large-scale commercialization to list on the STAR Market under the fifth set of listing standards.

Under the resonance of policies and industry, commercial space has been placed under the “spotlight” of the capital market. CITIC Securities’ research report states that the release of the “Guideline” marks the official opening of the channel for commercial rocket companies to enter the capital market and clarifies the standards comprehensively. Emphasizing “undertaking national tasks, participating in national engineering projects,” “reusable technology,” and “industry position,” the IPO process for leading private commercial rocket companies may accelerate.

First Case Under the Expanded Fifth Set of STAR Market Listing Standards

As a core segment in the middle stream of commercial space, the development and launch of commercial rockets are affected by factors such as high product technical complexity, large capital investment, and long R&D cycles, leading to a general delay in profitability cycles for related companies, often making it difficult to meet traditional listing standards that require revenue and profitability. The release of the “Guideline” provides clear guidance for high-quality commercial rocket companies that have not yet achieved a certain scale of revenue to access the capital market.

The “Guideline” details specific requirements for commercial rocket companies applying under the fifth set of STAR Market listing standards, including scope of business, “hard technology” attributes, and achievement standards. It clarifies that companies must have significant advantages in key core technologies and, at the time of application, “achieve phased results such as the first successful orbit insertion of medium-to-large reusable launch vehicles utilizing reusable technology.”

Guolian Minsheng Securities pointed out that the implementation of the “Guideline” will further standardize the listing process for commercial space companies, help industry leaders accelerate their entry into the capital market, and drive technological iteration and industrial scale development, potentially catalyzing a valuation re-rating of the commercial space sector.

Just four days after the policy was announced, Blue Arrow Aerospace quickly submitted its IPO application, which was accepted. The company is also the first to be accepted after the expansion of the fifth set of standards to the commercial space field, attracting market attention.

According to the prospectus, Blue Arrow Aerospace mainly engages in the research and development, production, and provision of commercial space rocket launch services for liquid oxygen-methane engines and launch vehicles. The company has built a comprehensive technical system integrating R&D design, manufacturing, testing, and launch recovery, and has completed key technological breakthroughs for reusable launch vehicles based on stainless steel airframes and liquid oxygen-methane propulsion systems.

The fifth set of STAR Market listing standards does not impose revenue or net profit limits but emphasizes “large market space” and “phase achievements.” Regarding product development progress and phased results, Blue Arrow Aerospace states that in July 2023, it successfully launched the world’s first liquid oxygen-methane rocket into orbit, and in December 2025, it achieved the first successful orbit insertion of China’s first liquid oxygen-methane reusable rocket.

During the reporting period, the company successfully executed four liquid-fuel launch missions. Zhuque-2 has become China’s first liquid-fuel rocket to enter mass production and commercial use. Zhuque-3 has become China’s first reusable launch vehicle to be launched and successfully orbit a payload.

While achieving multiple technological breakthroughs, Blue Arrow Aerospace faces profitability challenges due to high R&D costs. From 2022 to 2024 and the first half of 2025, the company’s revenue was 782,900 yuan, 3.95 million yuan, 4.28 million yuan, and 36.43 million yuan, respectively; net losses attributable to parent company were 804 million yuan, 1.188 billion yuan, 876 million yuan, and 597 million yuan; net cash flow from operating activities was -730 million yuan, -809 million yuan, -1.141 billion yuan, and -622 million yuan.

Regarding the lack of profitability, Blue Arrow Aerospace explained that this is mainly because the Zhuque series liquid oxygen-methane launch vehicles are still in the early stage of commercial launch, with small and unstable launch service revenue that cannot cover costs; additionally, aerospace equipment is a technology-intensive industry, requiring continuous high R&D investment to maintain technological leadership, resulting in high R&D expenses.

For this IPO, Blue Arrow Aerospace plans to raise 7.5 billion yuan, of which 2.77 billion yuan will be used for the reusable rocket capacity enhancement project, and 4.73 billion yuan for the reusable rocket technology improvement project. The company states that the projects will help expand the scale production of space launch vehicles, meet the growing satellite launch market demand, and build core capabilities and intellectual property rights systems.

Leading Companies Accelerate to Go Public

In 2025, commercial space is booming, injecting strong momentum into China’s space industry. According to CCTV News, in 2025, China achieved multiple breakthroughs in manned spaceflight, deep space exploration, and commercial space, with several firsts. The total number of launches in China reached 92, a record high.

Meanwhile, investment and financing in the commercial space sector remain hot. The “China Commercial Space Industry Research Report” shows that in 2025, the industry scale reached 2.8 trillion yuan, with total financing of 18.6 billion yuan, up 32% year-on-year. The rocket manufacturing sector received 6.71 billion yuan, and satellite manufacturing 3 billion yuan, making them the two largest segments in terms of financing.

In the primary market, commercial space companies are accelerating capitalization. According to incomplete statistics, several companies such as GalaxySpace, GalaxyPower, Tianbing Technology, CAS Space, Yixin Aerospace, iStar, and MicroNanoStar are in guidance stages for IPO, aiming for A-share listing; Guoxing Aerospace and Fuxin Futong plan to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

These companies mainly come from three segments: rocket manufacturing, satellite manufacturing, and space services. Five focus on launch vehicles and have clear plans to list on the A-shares market. Among them, apart from Blue Arrow Aerospace, which has its application accepted, others are still in guidance stages.

Public information shows that GalaxySpace started guidance for STAR Market listing in December 2020. Technologically, in 2019, its self-developed Hyperbolic One launch vehicle (SQX-1) successfully flew for the first time, becoming China’s first private commercial launch vehicle to reach orbit. In the field of reusable rockets, GalaxySpace’s Hyperbolic Three reusable launch vehicle is expected to fly for the first time this year.

CAS Space, Tianbing Technology, and GalaxyPower have completed guidance filings since the second half of 2025. CAS Space, spun off from the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has so far launched 84 satellites with the LiJian-1, delivering over 11 tons of payload to orbit.

Tianbing Technology is China’s first company dedicated to developing liquid rocket engines and medium-to-large liquid launch vehicles. According to its official WeChat, in April 2023, its independently developed Tianlong-2 medium liquid launch vehicle successfully flew for the first time; in September 2025, the company completed sea trials of the first stage of the Tianlong-3 large liquid launch vehicle at Dongfang Spaceport in Yantai, Shandong, setting a domestic record for liquid engine thrust.

GalaxyPower, founded in 2018, provides efficient and reliable launch services for domestic and international space clients. Its core products include the “Zhishen Star” series of medium-to-large reusable liquid launch vehicles and the “Gushen Star” series of small solid launch vehicles.

Amid the vigorous development of commercial space, these companies have also attracted significant capital. Public data shows that GalaxyPower completed a Series D financing in September 2025, raising 2.4 billion yuan; in the same month, GalaxySpace announced completion of Series D+ financing, with an initial 700 million yuan; in October 2025, Tianbing Technology announced nearly 2.5 billion yuan in Pre-D and D round financing.

In satellite development, MicroNanoStar, Guoxing Aerospace, and Yixin Aerospace are also accelerating toward the capital markets. MicroNanoStar is a satellite unicorn mainly engaged in satellite assembly and ground station products; Guoxing Aerospace focuses on satellites, related services, and star-based solutions; Yixin Aerospace mainly develops small satellite payloads, control, communication products, and ground control systems.

Technological Progress and Policy Guidance Support Commercial Space “Soaring”

The intensive IPO efforts of commercial space companies are not only due to technological breakthroughs but also closely related to continuous policy support.

In 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference explicitly listed commercial space as a strategic emerging industry; in 2024 and 2025, it was included in the State Council’s government work reports; the “14th Five-Year Plan” explicitly proposed accelerating the construction of a space power.

In November 2025, the China National Space Administration issued the “Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Space (2025–2027),” explicitly incorporating commercial space into the overall national space development layout and setting a goal to “basically achieve high-quality development of commercial space by 2027.” Subsequently, the CNSA announced the establishment of a dedicated Commercial Space Department, with related activities gradually underway, marking the arrival of a dedicated regulatory body for China’s commercial space industry.

Many local governments have also introduced supporting policies to create a favorable environment for the industry. For example, the General Office of Shandong Provincial Government issued the “Measures for Accelerating the High-Quality Development of the Commercial Space Industry,” aiming to reach an annual capacity of 100 launch vehicles and 150 commercial satellites by 2027, with an industry scale of 500 billion yuan, building a nationally influential high-quality development highland.

On January 8, the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal Government released the “Guangzhou City Plan for Accelerating the Construction of an Advanced Manufacturing Power (2024–2035),” proposing to build a new China commercial space hub with global influence by 2035. Focused on key technologies such as reusable rockets, it aims to provide a solid foundation for the development of medium-to-large liquid rockets and will be open to national research institutes, enterprises, and universities for sharing.

Market consensus holds that under the dual drive of policy support and technological breakthroughs, the commercial space industry is entering an explosive growth phase.

CITIC Securities’ research report indicates that China’s commercial space is transitioning from the “exploration and verification” stage to the “growth explosion” period, with a critical development inflection point. Looking ahead, as policies and industry systems improve, China’s commercial rockets are expected to significantly increase high-frequency launches and mass production of satellites.

Dongxing Securities pointed out that future commercial space will become an important engine for promoting new productive forces and high-quality technological development domestically. To secure valuable orbital and spectrum resources, China’s constellation satellite launches are expected to accelerate further in 2026; private commercial rocket companies are expected to deepen participation, effectively supplementing the national team, and jointly support high-frequency launch demands.