China eases IPO rules for firms developing reusable rockets

New guidelines exempt firms from some financial requirements Companies will need to meet reusable rocket tech milestones Beijing seeking to close space tech gap with U.S. By Eduardo Baptista BEIJING, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Chinese companies developing reusable commercial rockets will have access to a fast lane for initial public offerings on the tech-heavy STAR market that exempts them from some financial requirements, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said on Friday. Beijing is seeking to address a gap in its space capabilities compared to the United States, which is currently dominant in the ability to return, recover, and reuse a rocket’s first stage, or booster, after it is launched. The new guidelines build upon previous regulations published in June that made it easier for pre-profit innovative companies to get listed on the STAR market. The fast lane exempts Chinese rocket firms from profitability and minimum revenue thresholds and instead requires them to have met key technological milestones, including one successful orbital launch using reusable rocket technology. CHINA AIMING TO BREAK US, SPACEX STRANGLEHOLD U.S. billionaire Elon Musk’s aerospace giant SpaceX currently holds a near monopoly on this technology, and its signature Falcon 9 is the only reusable rocket model that is regularly launched and used to put satellites into orbit. Earlier this month, China’s leading private rocket firm LandSpace became the first domestic entity to carry out a full reusable rocket test with the launch of its new Zhuque-3 model, signalling its ambition to catch up to SpaceX. While the launch failed to complete the crucial step of recovering the rocket’s booster, a flurry of Chinese state-owned and private players are now rushing to test launch their own reusable rockets. LandSpace has already said it wants to demonstrate a successful rocket recovery in mid-2026, when Zhuque-3 will be launched for a second time. But it has said the capital-intensive nature of rocket development means it will need access to China’s capital markets if it hopes to compete with SpaceX. The Shanghai exchange’s rules do not state that rocket firms must successfully recover a rocket, only that reusable rocket technology be used to put a satellite into orbit, something LandSpace already achieved with this month’s launch. Companies that undertake national missions or participate in major state-led space projects will receive priority support, according to the new guidelines, which take effect immediately, underscoring the close alignment between commercial launch activity and China’s broader strategic goals. China has repeatedly described SpaceX’s monopoly on low-Earth orbit satellites as a national security risk and is actively pushing its own satellite constellations, which it hopes will number in the tens of thousands within the next decades.