The wave of commercial aerospace IPOs is about to start, and China's version of SpaceX is gearing up

On October 23, Beijing Xinghe Power Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Xinghe Power") submitted its IPO counseling record to the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau.

Xinghe Power is the first private commercial rocket company in China to achieve mass production of rockets, high-density launches, and commercialization, with a high success rate. Its successful launch count accounts for 51.3% of the total successful launches in the domestic private rocket industry.

“Their main product is solid rockets, while liquid rockets are still in development. Compared to peers, a significant advantage is their high success rate,” an industry insider familiar with Xinghe Power told Xinfeng.

Compared to solid rockets, liquid rockets have advantages such as reusability and higher payload capacity.

It is understood that currently, only a few companies globally, such as SpaceX, possess the technology for liquid rockets and have successfully completed launches.

However, Xinghe Power's liquid rocket launch is imminent.

The "Zhi Shen Xing No. 1" under Xinghe Power is one of the first domestically to conduct orbital-level launches of reusable liquid launch vehicles, capable of being reused approximately 30 times, which is expected to significantly reduce launch costs.

Recently, Xinghe Power has supplemented its resources for the development of liquid rocket technology.

Just before initiating the IPO counseling, Xinghe Power completed a D round financing of 2.4 billion yuan, which is planned to accelerate the development of its "Zhi Shen Xing" series of reusable liquid launch vehicles and the "Gu Shen Xing No. 2" medium solid launch vehicle, as well as related production, testing, and launch capability construction.

From an industry perspective, China's private commercial aerospace companies are expected to usher in a wave of IPOs. Currently, commercial aerospace companies such as Interstellar Glory, Tianbing Technology, Blue Arrow Aerospace, and Yixin Aerospace have entered the IPO counseling period.

However, due to the common challenges faced by commercial aerospace companies, such as "long R&D cycles, high investment, and difficulty in short-term profitability," this brings certain pressure to the IPO path.

For example, Interstellar Glory initiated its IPO counseling as early as 2020 and has completed 20 counseling sessions to date but has not yet entered the listing application stage.

Rocket launch failures may also bring more uncertainty to the company's IPO path. In August of this year, the Zhuque No. 2 improved version of the Yao San launch vehicle developed by Blue Arrow Aerospace, which was under IPO counseling, experienced flight anomalies after ignition and launch in the Dongfeng Commercial Aerospace Innovation Experimental Zone, resulting in a failed flight test mission.

It is worth mentioning that policies are further loosening for the listing of commercial aerospace companies.

In June of this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued the "Opinions on Setting Up a Growth Layer on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board to Enhance Institutional Inclusiveness and Adaptability," stating that the fifth set of listing standards applicable to unprofitable enterprises on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board will be restarted and the scope of application expanded, supporting the listing of more enterprises in cutting-edge technology fields such as artificial intelligence and commercial aerospace.

Against this backdrop, the first commercial aerospace company on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board may soon emerge