Countdown starts for Chinese rocket maker CAS Space’s Shanghai listing

CAS Space, a leading Chinese commercial rocket maker, has filed for a listing on Shanghai’s tech-focused Star Market, joining a growing queue of private space companies seeking capital as Beijing steps up support for the sector.

Founded in 2018 and incubated by the Institute of Mechanics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the start-up plans to raise 4.18 billion yuan (US$600 million) to fund research and development of reusable heavy-lift rockets, spacecraft and liquid-fuel engines, according to its prospectus released on Tuesday after its listing application was accepted by the exchange.

The filing came a day after the company successfully launched the maiden flight of its Lijian-2 Y1, or Kinetica-2 Y1, carrier rocket.

CAS Space’s product portfolio includes its Kinetica series launch vehicles, Lihong spacecraft, Kinecore engines and Kinastra upper-stage systems, according to its website. The company said it had completed 11 launch missions, delivering 86 satellites and one spacecraft into orbit, with a total payload of nearly 16 tonnes. It accounted for about 50 per cent and 63 per cent of China’s private commercial launch market by payload in 2024 and 2025 respectively, citing Frost & Sullivan data.

Despite the growing traction, the company remains loss-making. Revenue jumped from 5.95 million yuan in 2022 to 244 million yuan in 2024, and reached 84.2 million yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Net losses stood at 1.76 billion yuan in 2022, narrowing to 749 million yuan in the first nine months of 2025. Accumulated losses reached 2.5 billion yuan by the end of the reported period.