SpaceX has a Chinese rival and it is beating it to the stock market

Even as SpaceX moves closer to what could be a record-breaking IPO expected as early as 2026, a smaller Chinese competitor is already racing ahead to tap public markets.

The development highlights how global space firms are lining up for investor capital.

CAS Space Technology plans to raise around 4.18 billion yuan ($607 million) in a listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market, according to a Tuesday filing reported by Reuters.

The Guangzhou-based company says the funds will go mainly to developing reusable launchers, aligning with China’s recent policy support for private space firms and looser IPO rules introduced in late December.

IPO plan and use of proceeds

The planned offering would finance research and development of reusable rockets, as CAS Space pursues lower-cost, higher-frequency access to orbit.

The company remains unprofitable, with accumulated losses of about 2.5 billion yuan due to heavy R&D spending.

Over the past three years, research costs exceeded revenue, underscoring the capital intensity of launch vehicle development.

Beijing fuels space IPO race

Shanghai’s exchange eased IPO rules for companies working on reusable rockets in late December, part of a broader effort to narrow China’s gap with the United States in space capabilities.

Reusable rockets are seen as critical to cutting launch costs and supporting the deployment of satellites for uses ranging from military surveillance to broadband communications.

CAS Space follows other Chinese space companies moving to tap domestic capital markets.

Privately owned LandSpace, described by Reuters as China’s leading reusable rocket firm, is looking to raise just over $1 billion on the STAR Market.

China bets on reusability

CAS Space said its new-generation Kinetica-2 completed its maiden flight on Monday, delivering multiple satellites and a prototype spacecraft into orbit.

The rocket is designed for high-frequency, low-cost missions with an architecture that allows for potential reuse, positioning it to support China’s expanding low-Earth orbit satellite infrastructure.

According to Reuters, only SpaceX has reliably mastered reusable launch technology so far, a benchmark that underscores both the opportunity and the challenge facing new entrants.

CAS Space is a commercial spin-off of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s largest state research institute, and is based in Guangzhou, Reuters reported.

The company’s listing plan highlights China’s push to channel capital into private-sector launch providers to support large-scale satellite constellation deployment and reduce reliance on state-owned players.

If successful, the STAR Market listing would give CAS Space fresh capital to advance reusability efforts and build on Kinetica-2’s debut, while testing investor appetite for China’s emerging commercial launch sector.