China News Service / CNSA · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)

🇨🇳Beijing, ChinaState-owned space prime

Verified 2026-05-28· China Academy of Space Technology (subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, CASC)

Founded

1968

Overview

Wholly state-owned subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). CAST is China's primary spacecraft prime contractor — built Chang'e 6 (first lunar far-side sample return), Chang'e 7 (south pole prospecting, NET August 2026), Tiangong station modules, Shenzhou crewed vehicles, and Queqiao-2 lunar relay satellite.

Moat: Sole prime for all major Chinese lunar exploration missions. Direct heritage from Chang'e 1 through Chang'e 7 — accumulated lunar mission integration experience comparable only to NASA Goddard / JPL.

Business

Primary customers

Government: CNSA (Chinese government space programme)
Commercial: International commercial satellite buyers

Sectors

Lunar landers + orbiters (Chang'e) · Crewed spacecraft (Shenzhou) · Space stations (Tiangong) · Comms satellites

Gallery

Rear view of China's Tiangong space station on orbit with a Shenzhou crew spacecraft docked — CAST builds the station's pressurised modules and the Shenzhou capsules. — Image: The Tiangong station + a docked Shenzhou, both CAST-built (2023) — China Manned Space Engineering Office · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The CAST-built Chang'e 5 lunar sample-return capsule back at the China Academy of Space Technology in Beijing on 18 December 2020, after returning 1.7 kg of Moon samples. — Image: The Chang'e 5 returner home at CAST (Dec 2020) — China News Service · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The CAST engineering team celebrating the successful return of the Chang'e 5 lunar sample mission they designed and built, December 2020. — Image: CAST's Chang'e 5 team marks a safe return — China News Service · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Key Products

Chang'e 6 (orbiter + lander + ascender + returner)operational
First-ever sample return from the lunar far side (Apollo crater, South Pole-Aitken Basin). Launched 2024-05-03, returned 1,935.3 g of regolith to Earth 2024-06-25.
First flight: 2024-05-03
Chang'e 7 (orbiter + lander + rover + mini-flying probe)development
China's first dedicated lunar south-pole prospecting mission. Launches NET August 2026 on Long March 5; lands at Shackleton crater illuminated rim. Carries 18 science payloads including Italian laser retroreflector.
First flight: 2026-08 (NET)
Queqiao-2 relay satelliteoperational
Earth-Moon relay satellite operational since March 2024. Supports Chang'e-4 / 6 / 7 / 8 communications. Elliptical frozen orbit 200 × 16,000 km, 62.4° inclination. 8-10 year design life.
First flight: 2024-03-20

Investor Resources

Primary-source documents — straight from China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)'s investor relations and SEC filings.

Investor Presentations

Near-term Catalysts

2026-08 (NET)
Chang'e 7 launch
China's first dedicated south-pole mission — directly competitive with NASA's Artemis-era prospecting.
2028-2030
Chang'e 8 ILRS precursor mission
Demonstrates ISRU + surface construction technologies for the planned International Lunar Research Station basic facility (2035).

Top Risks

Geopolitical exposure: US export controls (ITAR) restrict supplier base for some payloads.
ILRS construction timeline depends on Long March 9 super-heavy launch development, currently in progress.

Recent Milestones

2024-03-20
Queqiao-2 launched and entered lunar orbit
2024-06-01
Chang'e 6 lander touches down at Apollo crater (lunar far side)
2024-06-25
Chang'e 6 sample return capsule lands in Inner Mongolia with 1,935.3 g of lunar regolith

From Management

Recent interviews and talks from China Academy of Space Technology (CAST)'s leadership — hear the strategy in their own words.

Sun Jiadong · Foundational chief designer (DFH-1, BeiDou)The 'Two Bombs, One Satellite' laureate behind China's satellitesWikipedia · 2024 Yuan Jiajun · Former CAST President (Shenzhou programme)How the leaders of China's space programme entered politicsSouth China Morning Post · 2017

What investors should know

Q1Is CAST publicly tradeable?⌄

No. CAST is a state-owned subsidiary of CASC. CASC itself is state-owned and not publicly traded. There is no direct retail equity for CAST or CASC. Some subsidiaries of CASC are listed on Chinese exchanges, but CAST itself is not.

Q2How does CAST compare with US primes?⌄

CAST's role is closest to NASA Goddard + JPL combined — it's both the primary mission-design organization AND a manufacturing prime. US-equivalent functions are split across NASA centers, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and others. CAST has integrated mission-design + build authority that no single US prime has.

Q3What's the Chang'e 7 architecture?⌄

Chang'e 7 is a multi-element south-pole mission: orbiter, lander, rover, and a mini-flying probe that hops into permanently shadowed regions to sample for water-ice volatiles. 18 science payloads total. Lands at Shackleton crater illuminated rim. Italian retroreflector aboard the lander.

Q4How does China's lunar programme cooperate with international partners?⌄

The International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) is led by China (via CNSA) + Russia (Roscosmos) with 40+ partner institutions including UAE, Pakistan, Venezuela, South Africa, Senegal, APSCO. Specific cooperation arrangements vary by partner; some provide payloads, others provide infrastructure or research collaboration.

Q5What's the timeline for ILRS construction?⌄

ILRS basic facility operational by 2035; extended network connecting south pole, equator, and far side by 2050. Construction missions begin 2031. Requires Long March 9 super-heavy launcher (in development) and Russian Yenisei (also in development).

Peers

🇫🇷Thales Alenia Space

Public

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Sources & References

Agency Document

CNSA — ILRS Guide for Partnership · 2024-12-31
CNSA — Queqiao-2 launch announcement · 2024-03-20

Programs this company benefits from

Government and commercial space programs where China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) is listed as a contractor, beneficiary, or investable equity exposure.

CMSA (China Manned Space Agency)

Tiangong Space Station

Tiangong is China's permanently-crewed three-module low-Earth-orbit space station, completed in late 2022 with the Tianhe core (April 2021), Wentian lab (July 2022) and Mengtian lab (October 2022), and continuously crewed by six-month Shenzhou rotations from Shenzhou-12 through the current Shenzhou-23 [1][2][3][19]. As the only operational government-run station outside the ISS partnership, Tiangong anchors China's crewed-LEO industrial base under prime contractor CASC, with planned Xuntian co-orbital telescope (NET 2027) and a future module expansion enabling foreign-astronaut visits, while remaining unlisted and unaddressable for public-equity investors [4][5].

CNSA (China National Space Administration)

Chang'e Lunar Exploration Programme

Chang'e (嫦娥) is China's flagship robotic lunar exploration series — from the Chang'e-1 orbiter (2007) to the Chang'e-6 far-side sample return (June 2024, a world first), with Chang'e-7 polar reconnaissance (2026) and Chang'e-8 ISRU demonstrator (2028) forming the precursor architecture for the International Lunar Research Station and the Chinese crewed lunar landing by 2030 [1][2][3]. Executed by CASC's lunar systems group, the programme has delivered six of six planned mission successes and has unilaterally extended China's lunar science lead on far-side and south-polar exploration over Western peers [4].

CNSA (China National Space Administration)

Tianwen Mars Exploration Programme

Tianwen (天问, 'Questions to Heaven') is China's Mars exploration programme — Tianwen-1 (launched July 23, 2020, arrived Mars orbit February 10, 2021) made China the second nation to successfully soft-land and operate a rover (Zhurong) on Mars in May 2021, and the planned Tianwen-3 sample-return mission (NET 2028) targets first return of Mars samples to Earth, potentially ahead of NASA's reformulated Mars Sample Return programme [1][2][3]. Executed by CAST and CALT under CASC, with no listed pure-play exposure and a credible chance of beating NASA / ESA to a Mars sample-return first [4].

CMSA (China Manned Space Agency)

Chinese Crewed Lunar Programme

The Chinese Crewed Lunar Programme is the human-spaceflight component of China's broader lunar architecture — formally announced by CMSA in 2023 with a target of landing two taikonauts on the Moon by 2030, executed through the new Long March 10 3-core launcher, the Mengzhou (梦舟, 'Dream Vessel') crew capsule, and the Lanyue (揽月, 'Embracing the Moon') lunar lander [1][2]. The two-launch mission architecture (one launch for Mengzhou + Earth-return stack, one for Lanyue + crew transfer) puts China on a credible path to becoming only the second nation in history to land humans on the Moon — competing directly with NASA Artemis on the south-polar surface [3].

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