CASC's China Commercial Rocket Co. takes full ownership of Yuqing Power and Longqing Aerospace
China Commercial Rocket Co., a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has absorbed rocket-engine maker Yuqing Power (Shanghai) and launch-service company Longqing Aerospace, creating an integrated structure covering vehicles, engines, ground systems and launch services. The company had just completed a capital increase raising its registered capital to RMB 6.882 billion.
According to Taibo (taibo.cn) on 13 October, China Commercial Rocket Co., a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, has absorbed rocket-engine company Yuqing Power (Shanghai) and launch-service company Beijing Longqing Aerospace in full, and now holds 100% of both. The report says this is the first commercial space structure in China in which vehicle design, engines, ground systems and launch services all sit within a single corporate entity.
The report notes that on 8 October China Commercial Rocket completed a new capital increase that raised its registered capital by about 65% to RMB 6.882 billion. The two new shareholders are Xi'an Aerospace Propulsion Institute, formerly a major shareholder of Yuqing Power (Shanghai), and China Long March Rocket Co., the former parent of Longqing Aerospace.
The report argues that CASC is combining dedicated companies, shareholder-level consolidation and large capital increases to turn commercial rocket capabilities scattered across its institutes and companies into an industrial chain that can be accounted for, expanded and capitalised.
The report also says China Commercial Rocket's registered capital has risen within two years from RMB 1 billion to RMB 1.396 billion, 4.172 billion and 6.88 billion, that its shareholders include Shanghai local state capital such as Shanghai Guosheng and Shanghai Alliance Investment, and that it may consider an IPO in future.
Our take: bringing propulsion and launch services into one corporate entity may improve the responsiveness and cost control of the commercial rocket business, and lays a foundation for high-cadence launches and future capital operations.
(Figures: 100% ownership, RMB 6.882 billion, about 65%, and RMB 1 billion, 1.396 billion, 4.172 billion and 6.88 billion are all single-sourced and could not be independently verified.)