China's SpaceX rival LandSpace eyes IPO in Shanghai

BEIJING (Reuters) -Chinese rocket developer LandSpace Technology is seeking to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's tech-focussed STAR Market, according to a document released by the securities regulator on Tuesday.

The document did not state how much the company aims to raise.

Beijing-based LandSpace was the world's first company to launch a methane-liquid oxygen rocket in July 2023, ahead of U.S. rivals including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin.

It completed a test of the first-stage propulsion system of its Zhuque-3 launch vehicle in June, paving the way for the reusable rocket's first launch scheduled for the second half of 2025, according to a statement posted on the company's WeChat account.

A successful test of Zhuque-3 would make LandSpace the second company after SpaceX to launch a reusable rocket, which is cheaper and faster in launch turnaround compared with expendable rockets.

Founded in 2015, LandSpace has secured funding from investors including venture capital firm HongShan, known at that time as Sequoia Capital China, the investment arm of Chinese property developer Country Garden and the state-backed China SME Development Fund.

LandSpace raised 900 million yuan ($125 million) in December from a state-owned fund focussed on advanced manufacturing, while in 2020 it raised 1.2 billion yuan, Chinese corporate databases showed.

($1 = 7.1796 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Yukun Zhang and Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

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