Text by / Weilan

Source / Node Finance

Another Major Financing Round Hits Commercial Space Sector

Recently, Jianyuan Technology completed its B++ round of financing, with cumulative funding exceeding RMB 2.3 billion over the past six months. The B-series financing was jointly led by IDG Capital, Hundun Capital, Hangzhou Capital, and Songyuan Venture Capital, with participation from follow-on investors including Heda Investment, Linglan Capital, Huafu Capital, Yida Capital, Shangshi Capital, and Renai Group. Existing shareholders such as Jiuzhi Capital, Tianwen Era, and Jinsha Capital also continued to increase their stakes.

The timing of this financing round is noteworthy. In June this year, SpaceX went public on Nasdaq, closing its first day with a market capitalization exceeding USD 2.1 trillion, directly pricing the business model of reusable rockets in the public capital markets. In July, the Long March 10B achieved the world's first rocket sea-based net recovery, marking China's first successful controlled recovery of a launch vehicle's first stage, transitioning rocket recovery from experimental validation to engineering implementation domestically.

Capital is also accelerating its influx. Data from Taibo Intellectual shows that in the first half of 2026 alone, 89 financing deals were publicly disclosed in China's commercial space sector, totaling RMB 15.13 billion. Meanwhile, IPO pathways for commercial rocket companies are opening up.

Technology, capital, and listing channels are converging in the same direction.

Satellites Are in Mass Production, Rockets Are Still in Line

Demand-side clarity is already evident. The planned scales of the Guowang and Qianfan constellations each exceed 10,000 satellites, and China has submitted applications to the International Telecommunication Union for frequency and orbital resources for over 200,000 satellites. As satellites enter mass production and networking phases, the capacity gap at the launch end has become particularly pronounced. Currently, domestic constellation networking still relies heavily on the proven capacity of state-owned teams, while the high-density launch capabilities of commercial rockets remain under validation. Stable, low-cost capacity supply has emerged as the new primary bottleneck.

The overseas reference is even more stark. By 2025, SpaceX completed 167 launches, setting records for six consecutive years, with a single Falcon 9 booster flying over 30 times. Reusability has transformed launches from a one-time engineering feat into a high-frequency industrial business. The competition in satellite internet appears to be in the sky but is actually at the launch end—whoever can provide cheap, frequent, and sustainable capacity will control the gateway to the space economy.

Capital Only Pays for Certainty

Policy signals have intensified over the past year. In November 2025, the China National Space Administration established a Commercial Space Department and issued the Action Plan for Promoting High-Quality and Safe Development of Commercial Space (2025–2027), explicitly supporting the development of reusable commercial launch vehicles. A month later, the Shanghai Stock Exchange released guidelines specifying that commercial rocket companies applying for listing under the STAR Market's fifth set of criteria must have "successfully achieved the first orbital insertion of a medium-to-heavy launch vehicle using reusable technology at the time of application."

Medium-to-heavy, reusable, and successful orbital insertion were, for the first time, enshrined in explicit capital market standards, providing the primary market with a new "ruler" to measure commercial rocket companies. Market expectations for commercial rocket firms are now shifting toward composite capabilities in orbital insertion, recovery, and reusability.

Jianyuan's RMB 2.3 billion raise occurred just as this "ruler" took shape. Currently, two full-scale medium-to-heavy stainless-steel reusable rockets, Yuanxingzhe-1 Y1 and Y2, have completed assembly and over 30 critical ground tests ahead of their maiden flight, with all indicators meeting requirements. In Q4 this year, Jianyuan will conduct large-scale ground tests, including power system trials. Yuanxingzhe-1 is expected to be ready for its maiden flight by the end of 2026, with plans for simultaneous first orbital launch and first-stage sea splashdown recovery, validating two key capabilities in a single flight.

What Does the RMB 2.3 Billion Bet On?

The maiden flight is the immediate hurdle, but not the full picture behind the RMB 2.3 billion. Competition among commercial rockets is shifting from single-launch performance to overall operational efficiency. Customers purchase capacity services, evaluating not just per-launch price and payload but also scheduling reliability and sustained launch consistency. Overall launch efficiency and lifecycle costs determine commercial value.

Jianyuan's technological choices revolve around efficiency and cost. Yuanxingzhe-1 employs a full stainless-steel body and liquid oxygen-methane propellant, targeting "chopstick-style" capture recovery. Its maiden flight will first validate key technologies through sea splashdown recovery. Stainless steel is better suited for high-efficiency manufacturing and parallel production of multiple units, while liquid oxygen-methane enables better engine reusability. Capture recovery eliminates landing legs, simplifying the vehicle structure and improving post-recovery maintenance efficiency. Recovering and reusing the first stage—which accounts for ~70% of a liquid launch vehicle's total cost—is the key to true cost reduction.

At the high-tower welding site for Yuanxingzhe-1's stainless-steel body, multiple units can be produced in parallel.

The company has already proven its recovery capabilities once. In May 2025, Jianyuan Technology completed China's first stainless-steel rocket sea-based flight recovery test. The full-scale first-stage verification vehicle of Yuanxingzhe-1 performed a secondary power system restart, return guidance control, low-altitude deceleration hover, and sea recovery in a real flight environment. Post-recovery, core components like the engine underwent multiple firings for reusability validation.

On May 29, 2025, Jianyuan Technology's Yuanxingzhe-1 verification rocket achieved controlled splashdown recovery.

Based on publicly disclosed technical plans and engineering progress, Jianyuan Technology has entered the first tier of domestic "chopstick-style" capture recovery, poised to become the first commercial rocket firm in China to achieve this recovery method. Among domestic commercial rocket companies pursuing this route, it is the only one to have completed low-altitude deceleration hover validation under real flight conditions and entered the critical preparation phase for its maiden flight.

Subsequent validations will directly lead to commercialization. The structural and technical design of Yuanxingzhe-1's maiden flight vehicle matches that of subsequent commercial delivery rockets. Upon validation, the same product design will enter mass production, with commercial launch services expected to commence in 2027.

Over the past four years, Jianyuan has built end-to-end capabilities covering R&D, manufacturing, testing, assembly, launch, recovery, and reusability, while establishing key infrastructure for testing, production assembly, and recovery operations. Keeping critical processes in-house shortens the Connection cycle (transition cycle) from production to launch, enabling true support for high-frequency mission delivery.

The Window Won't Stay Open Indefinitely

Rockets are a typical high-investment, long-cycle industry, with few companies reaching the pre-maiden flight stage. As leading firms' products progress to the launch pad, technical plans will translate into real flight results, and commercialization capabilities will gradually manifest in orders and deliveries. As outcomes become clearer, opportunities for early entry into top-tier firms by primary market investors will diminish.

Jianyuan's RMB 2.3 billion raise landed precisely during this window. Even before the maiden flight, firms like IDG Capital, Hundun Capital, Hangzhou Capital, and Songyuan Venture Capital jointly led the round, with multiple existing shareholders increasing their stakes. Capital is preemptively selecting the next phase of market leaders, and the remaining spots at the table are becoming scarce.