CAS Space (Zhongke Aerospace Exploration / Zhongkexing)
Valuation
~CNY 11.1B (~$1.55-1.6B) per 2025 IPO counseling disclosures; targeting ~$607M Shanghai STAR Market raise
Employees
~600 (estimated from filings and reporting)
Current Status
Spun out of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Mechanics, CAS Space is one of China's most active commercial launch providers. As of Apr 2026 it has flown Kinetica-1 12 times (one failure in Dec 2024), debuted the much larger liquid Kinetica-2 with a successful maiden flight on 30 March 2026 carrying a Qingzhou cargo-spacecraft prototype, and completed IPO counseling with Chinese regulators in Aug 2025 ahead of a Shanghai STAR Market listing.
Future Outlook
Plans to scale Kinetica-2 cadence in 2026-2027, demonstrate first-stage and booster reusability by ~2027-2028, deliver Qingzhou cargo missions to Tiangong, and complete a Shanghai STAR Market IPO targeting roughly $607M in proceeds.
Key Products
Recent Milestones
Kinetica-1 maiden flight successfully placed multiple satellites into orbit
Jun 2023
Closed Series C round of ~$87M, valuing the company at ~$1.55B
Apr 2023
Kinetica-1 Y5 launched 15 satellites including IRSS-1 for Omani startup Oman Lens
Nov 2024
Kinetica-1 suffered its first failure due to a third-stage thrust-vector-control malfunction
Dec 2024
Kinetica-1 Y8 launched seven satellites including two Mexican ThumbSats — first Latin American payloads on the rocket
Aug 2025
Completed IPO counseling with Chinese regulators, formally targeting Shanghai STAR Market listing
Aug 2025
Kinetica-2 successfully completed its maiden orbital flight from Dongfeng, deploying the Qingzhou cargo-spacecraft prototype and two satellites
Mar 2026