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 commercial aerospace companies going public 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 the STAR Market—Applicable to Commercial Rocket Companies” (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 policy and industry, commercial aerospace 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 access 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 aerospace, 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’ requirements for revenue and profitability. The release of the “Guideline” provides clear guidance for high-quality commercial rocket companies that have not yet achieved a certain revenue scale to access the capital market.

The “Guideline” details specific requirements for applying the fifth set of STAR Market listing standards for commercial rocket companies, 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, have “achieved a phased success in the first launch of medium-to-large reusable launch vehicles with payloads using reusable technology.”

Guolian Minsheng Securities pointed out that the implementation of the “Guideline” will further standardize the listing process for commercial aerospace 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 aerospace 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 aerospace field, attracting significant market attention.

According to the prospectus, Blue Arrow Aerospace mainly engages in the research and development, production of liquid oxygen-methane engines, and launch services for commercial rockets. 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, China’s first reusable liquid oxygen-methane rocket successfully entered orbit.

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 enter orbit.

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; net losses attributable to parent 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, and the company maintains high R&D investment to ensure technological advancement, 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 Listing

In 2025, commercial aerospace 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 aerospace, with several firsts. The total number of launches in China reached 92, a record high.

Meanwhile, investment and financing in the commercial aerospace sector remain hot. The “China Commercial Aerospace 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 aerospace 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 the guidance stage for listing, aiming for A-shares; 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. Among them, five focus on launch vehicles and have clearly expressed intentions to list on the A-shares market. From the progress, except for Blue Arrow Aerospace’s application already accepted, others are still in guidance.

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 the first private commercial launch vehicle in China to reach orbit. In the reusable rocket field, 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, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has sent 84 satellites into precise orbits with its Li-1 rocket, with a total payload mass exceeding 11 tons.

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 the sea trial 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, mainly 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 aerospace, 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; GalaxySpace announced completion of Series D+ financing with an initial 700 million yuan; Tianbing Technology announced nearly 2.5 billion yuan in Pre-D and D rounds of additional funding.

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

Technological Progress and Policy Guidance Support Commercial Spaceflight “Soaring”

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

In 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference explicitly identified commercial aerospace 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 industry’s move toward dedicated regulation.

Many local governments have also introduced supportive policies, creating a favorable environment for the development of commercial space. 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 commercial space development highland.

On January 8, the General Office of Guangzhou Municipal Government released the “Guangzhou City Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a Strong Manufacturing City (2024–2035),” proposing to build a new China commercial space hub with global influence by 2035. Focused on tackling reusable rocket technology and providing a solid foundation for medium-to-large liquid rockets, the plan will be open to research institutes, enterprises, and universities nationwide.

Market consensus holds that under the dual drive of policy support and technological breakthroughs, the commercial space industry is accelerating toward 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 key development inflection point. Looking ahead, as policies and industry systems improve, China’s high-frequency rocket launch capacity and mass production of satellites are expected to significantly increase.

Dongxing Securities pointed out that 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 further accelerate in 2026; private commercial rocket companies are likely to deepen participation, effectively supplementing the national team, and jointly support high-frequency launch demands.