The maiden flight of the Long March 10B rocket was recently a complete success, marking China’s first controlled recovery of a launch vehicle’s first stage. Parallel to the technological breakthroughs in reusable rockets is a surge in IPO filings among commercial aerospace enterprises. Statistics show that at least 15 commercial aerospace firms have launched IPO processes to date. In the first half of this year, CAS Space and Microsat Aerospace both entered the inquiry phase on the STAR Market.
Analysts argue that over the medium and long term, reusable rockets close the commercial loop for the commercial aerospace sector, shifting its growth driver from "policy and capital backing" to "endogenous profitability". Driven by technological breakthroughs, capital inflows and robust market demand, China’s trillion-yuan commercial aerospace industry is entering a period of genuine value realization.
Reusable Technology Validation Enters a Pivotal Year
On July 10, the Long March 10B launch vehicle lifted off from the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center, successfully delivering satellites into pre-set orbits and recovering its first stage, wrapping up a fully successful mission. This mission delivered China’s first controlled recovery of a launch vehicle’s first stage, as well as the world’s first maritime net-capture recovery of a launch vehicle booster.
Breakthroughs in reusable rocket technology are seen as a critical inflection point for the large-scale commercial operation of commercial aerospace. Multiple reusable rockets are poised to complete maiden flight validation in the second half of the year.
Recently, the Zhuque-3 reusable No.2 launch vehicle, developed by LandSpace, completed a successful static fire test at the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Test Zone. All key ground verification work prior to launch has been finished for the rocket, and the test team will conduct full launch preparations per schedule to get ready for flight missions.
A representative from Orienspace told reporters that its Gravity-2 reusable liquid launch vehicle will be ready for its maiden flight before year-end and is currently undergoing large-scale ground testing.
BOC International states that reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle technology can effectively cut per-payload launch costs. China’s breakthrough in reusable technology will resolve the industry bottleneck of "insufficient launchers amid abundant satellite demand" and usher the commercial aerospace industrial chain into a new phase featuring cost reduction, efficiency gains and scaled revenue generation.
"2026 will be a pivotal year for reusable technology validation," said Yang Shaoxian, Chief Research Fellow of Commercial Aerospace at CCID Research Institute. Moving forward, enterprises that take the lead in mastering reusable, low-cost, heavy-lift launch capacity will capture the bulk of commercial launch contracts, amplifying the leading-firm effect. Nevertheless, there remains a long path from successful booster recovery to economically viable reusability, with reliability and cost control standing as the two core technical priorities.
Leading Firms Race Toward IPOs
As reusable rocket technology advances at an accelerated pace, commercial aerospace companies are rushing to launch IPOs. Data from CV Jiachuan indicates that at least 15 commercial aerospace enterprises had initiated IPO procedures as of June this year.
This boom is backed by sustained favorable industrial policies and corresponding adjustments to capital market rules. In 2025, the STAR Market incorporated commercial aerospace into its Fifth Listing Standard, setting a hard threshold that requires "the successful maiden orbital injection of payloads via medium-to-large launch vehicles equipped with reusable technology". This rule ties IPO eligibility to core technological prowess, helping commercial rocket firms in the large-scale commercialization phase secure domestic capital market financing channels.
The fundraising purposes of industry leaders further validate this trend. For instance, LandSpace’s STAR Market IPO filing was accepted on December 31, 2025; the review resumed on June 29, 2026, moving into the inquiry stage. The firm plans to raise 7.5 billion yuan, with 2.77 billion yuan earmarked for expanding reusable rocket production capacity and 4.73 billion yuan for reusable rocket technology upgrades.
Separately, CAS Space’s STAR Market IPO application was accepted on March 31, 2026, entering the inquiry phase in April. It targets fundraising of 4.18 billion yuan, primarily invested in two core projects: heavy-lift reusable rockets and reusable launch vehicles.
A senior executive at CAS Space told reporters that the company is prioritizing R&D on large reusable launch vehicles, reusable launch vehicles and spacecraft, and an industrial base for reusable liquid rocket engines. "Launch vehicle manufacturers operate both as hardware producers and launch service providers; the core goal lies in truly industrializing launch vehicles. These projects will lay the groundwork for mass production of follow-up products, enabling consistent delivery of low-cost, high-frequency, high-reliability heavy-lift launch services," the executive noted.
"Now is an optimal window for leading enterprises to tap public capital markets. This mechanism helps filter out firms with genuine engineering capabilities and sustainable technological innovation, while supporting their transition from technical validation to large-scale production capacity," said Hu Yingkun, Director of Investment Department II at Jiantou Huake Investment.
Capital Markets Eye High Growth Potential
Interviewees stated that investors currently prioritize firms’ "future profitability" over near-term earnings, driven by the capital market’s upbeat growth expectations for the commercial aerospace sector. The recent high IPO valuation of SpaceX stands as the most prominent example: despite a net loss of USD 4.94 billion in 2025, market consensus puts its target valuation between USD 1.75 trillion and USD 2 trillion. SpaceX officially listed on the NASDAQ on June 12, 2026 under ticker symbol SPCX.
Yang Shaoxian believes investors now focus on three core metrics for enterprises: speed of technological iteration, cost-cutting and efficiency improvement, and the maturity of commercial loops and profitability.
She elaborated: First, technological moats, including in-house R&D capacity and validation progress for core technologies such as reusable rockets and satellite payloads, as well as market influence and supply chain control across niche commercial aerospace segments — these form the foundation of long-term competitiveness. Second, commercialization execution, measured by order visibility, customer stickiness and commercial loop potential, which directly determines long-term resource allocation and addressable market size. Third, scalable sustainable supply capacity, which hinges on whether lab prototypes can be converted into mass-produced industrial products to deliver stable, safe and consistent launch services.
Hu Yingkun explained that the primary market now adopts a hybrid valuation framework combining technical milestones, physical options and order visibility. Key investor evaluation criteria include technical barriers and viable technical routes, track records of milestone delivery such as launch and on-orbit operational success rates, commercialization maturity, and supply chain cost management. Enterprises with clear timelines for booster recovery and reuse and well-defined commercialization roadmaps are poised to gain an upper hand in subsequent financing rounds and valuation negotiations. (Outlook New Era)
Edit：Liu Zhiyu Responsible editor：Li Yulu
Source：https://www.jjckb.cn/
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