Orienspace Targets IPO as It Banks Funding for Reusable Gravity-2 Rocket

Chinese launch startup Orienspace has started preparations for an IPO while closing a pre-C funding round worth several hundred million yuan to accelerate its reusable Gravity-2 rocket.

The Shandong-based company, formally known as Orienspace (Shandong) Technology Co., Ltd., announced the round Aug. 5. Investors include Vertex Capital, Shanghai STVC, AVIC Honghua and Yuanyou Ruize. One hundred million yuan equals roughly $14.8 million.

Orienspace said the fresh capital will fund research, development and production of Gravity-2, a large liquid-propellant reusable launcher the company positions as part of China's push to deploy megaconstellation projects in orbit.

The investor lineup points to institutional and state-linked capital rather than early-stage venture money. Shanghai STVC's participation likely ties into the city's broader industrial strategy, according to SpaceNews.

Gravity-2 is a two-stage reusable liquid propellant rocket. It stands 70 meters tall with a diameter of 4.2 meters. The launcher can carry 21,500 kilograms to low Earth orbit when the first stage is expended, or 17,000 kg when the booster is recovered. To a 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit, capacity is 15,000 kg and 11,900 kg respectively. The first stage is powered by nine Force-110 kerosene-liquid oxygen engines.

The funding news follows operational milestones. In late July, Orienspace conducted its third Gravity-1 solid rocket launch — its first from the East China Sea rather than its usual site off Yantai, Shandong, and its first far-offshore mission.

The company has already raised twice in 2026 and is reported to be close to completing its C round, according to Chinese media outlet STCN. Orienspace plans to complete a shareholding restructuring before the end of the year — a typical step in preparing a domestic listing.

The move places Orienspace in a growing cohort of Chinese commercial rocket makers racing toward listings on Shanghai's STAR Market. LandSpace, CAS Space, Space Pioneer and Galactic Energy are on the same track. The trend follows a rule-change aimed at capital-intensive, high-technology firms such as launch companies, reinforced by strong central government policy support for commercial space.

Orienspace is aiming to have Gravity-2 ready for launch in the fourth quarter of this year, recent reports indicate. The company previously targeted a debut launch in late 2025.

Earlier this year, Orienspace was one of four commercial firms shortlisted for future launches of a new space station cargo transport system.

The company was founded in 2020. It runs research and development centers, rocket assembly and integration testing centers, and launch bases in Haiyang, Beijing, Xi'an, Wuxi and Wenchang. Across five funding rounds, Orienspace has raised more than 1.7 billion yuan, with more rounds imminent.

Its product lines span the Gravity rocket family, Force engines and Hongli space information equipment — what the company describes as an integrated research-testing-manufacturing-launch pipeline.

With a C round reportedly near completion, a shareholding restructuring due by year-end and a Q4 launch window for its most ambitious rocket yet, Orienspace is positioning itself as one of the first Chinese launch startups to convert technical milestones into a public listing.