Rockets

SpaceX

S

Active

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) designs, manufactures, and launches reusable rockets and spacecraft. The company operates Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, Dragon, Starlink, and the government-focused Starshield line while continuing to develop Starship for high-cadence heavy-lift missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. SpaceX absorbed xAI in February 2026 and on May 20, 2026 filed a public S-1 to list on Nasdaq (ticker SPCX) at an implied valuation near $1.75 trillion. Two days later, the first Starship V3 completed a full-duration suborbital test flight (Flight 12).

CASC

S

State-Owned (SASAC)

China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is the state-owned prime contractor for China's space program and the world's most prolific launch organization by missions flown. Wholly owned by the central government through SASAC, it develops and operates the Long March (Changzheng) rocket family — which passed its 600th launch in October 2025 — along with the Shenzhou crewed spacecraft, Tianzhou cargo vehicles, the Tiangong space station, BeiDou navigation and GuoWang broadband satellites, the Chang'e lunar and Tianwen planetary probes, and China's strategic missiles. CASC set a national record with 73 orbital launches in 2025 and is developing the partially reusable, super-heavy Long March 10 to land Chinese astronauts on the Moon before 2030.

Rocket Lab

A

Public (NASDAQ: RKLB)

Rocket Lab is an end-to-end space company spanning launch, hypersonic test launch, spacecraft, payloads, and satellite components for commercial, civil, and defense customers. Electron remains the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket, Rocket Lab technology supports more than 1,700 missions globally, and the company is developing Neutron to expand into medium-lift constellation, national-security, and exploration missions. In Q1 2026, Rocket Lab posted record quarterly revenue of $200.3M, backlog above $2.2B, and signed five dedicated Neutron launches with a confidential customer.

Blue Origin

A

Active

Blue Origin is a privately held aerospace company founded by Jeff Bezos that develops reusable launch vehicles, rocket engines, lunar landers, in-space mobility systems, and satellite communications infrastructure. Its current programs span the New Shepard suborbital system, the New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, the BE-4 engine family that also powers ULA's Vulcan, the Blue Moon lunar lander family, the Blue Ring spacecraft platform, and the TeraWave network. New Glenn remains grounded after NG-3's upper-stage BE-3U underperformance lost AST SpaceMobile's BlueBird 7, and on May 28, 2026 a New Glenn exploded during a static fire test at Cape Canaveral's LC-36 — Blue Origin's only New Glenn pad — damaging the launch complex while the company readies its first Blue Moon MK1 lunar mission.

Firefly Aerospace

A

Public (NASDAQ: FLY)

Firefly Aerospace is a public space and defense company that launches the Alpha small-lift rocket, is co-developing the Eclipse medium-lift vehicle with Northrop Grumman, flies Blue Ghost lunar landers, and builds Elytra orbital vehicles for maneuvering, communications, imaging, and other cislunar services. After becoming the first commercial company to complete a fully successful Moon landing, Firefly expanded further into defense software and data systems through its SciTec acquisition. Q1 2026 revenue reached $80.9M, with full-year guidance still at $420M-$450M.

Stoke Space

A

Active

Stoke Space is a Kent, Washington rocket company developing Nova, a fully and rapidly reusable medium-lift launch vehicle built for low-cost, on-demand transport to, through, and from space. Its architecture pairs a full-flow staged-combustion first stage with a reusable upper stage whose actively cooled metallic heat shield is integrated into the engine, enabling downmass capability, high-energy missions, and minimal-refurbishment reentry. Stoke is now scaling production capacity and bringing Space Launch Complex 14 online at Cape Canaveral ahead of Nova's first flights.

LandSpace

A

Private (Shanghai STAR Market IPO filed)

LandSpace (Beijing LandSpace Technology) is China's leading commercial rocket company. In July 2023 its methane-liquid oxygen Zhuque-2 became the first methalox rocket in the world to reach orbit, and the company now flies the upgraded Zhuque-2E for commercial constellation missions. Its flagship is the reusable, stainless-steel Zhuque-3, a Falcon 9-class vehicle whose December 2025 maiden flight reached orbit but failed to recover its booster. LandSpace's STAR Market IPO filing was accepted in December 2025 at a reported valuation near $2.7B.

Galactic Energy

A

Private

Galactic Energy (Beijing Xinghe Power) is one of China's leading commercial launch companies and the most prolific private launch provider in the country. Its small solid-fuel Ceres-1 — flying from both land and a sea platform (Ceres-1S) — has reached orbit 23 times with 21 successes, deploying around 89 satellites since 2020. The company is now developing the larger solid Ceres-2 and, most importantly, the partially reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen Pallas-1, a Falcon 9-class rocket whose first stage completed a seven-engine static fire in November 2025 ahead of its maiden flight. Galactic Energy closed a 2.4 billion yuan (~$336M) Series D in September 2025, bringing total funding to roughly $410M.

CAS Space

A

Private

CAS Space (Zhongke Aerospace) is a 2018 commercial spinoff majority-owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by founder and chairman Yang Yiqiang — former chief commander of the state Long March 11 solid rocket. Headquartered in Guangzhou, it operates the solid-fuel Kinetica-1 (Lijian-1), one of China's most-flown commercial rockets with 13 launches and 12 successes since 2022. In March 2026 it successfully debuted the medium-lift kerolox Kinetica-2 (Lijian-2), a three-core, nine-engine rocket carrying a prototype of the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft. Kinetica-2's expendable launch cost already rivals a reused Falcon 9, and the company is developing first-stage reusability while scaling output at a new Zhejiang 'super factory' (up to 12-20 vehicles/year). Valued at over $1.4B, CAS Space completed IPO tutoring in January 2026 ahead of a planned Shanghai STAR Market listing.

United Launch Alliance

B

Active (50/50 joint venture: Boeing & Lockheed Martin)

United Launch Alliance is Boeing and Lockheed Martin's launch-services joint venture for U.S. national security, NASA, and commercial customers. ULA says it has achieved more than 150 consecutive launches since 2006, is winding down Atlas V through Amazon's remaining Leo missions, and is shifting its long-term manifest onto the Vulcan Centaur family.

Relativity Space

B

Active

Relativity Space is building Terran R, a reusable medium-to-heavy-lift rocket aimed at commercial, government, and telecommunications missions. After flying Terran 1 as a pathfinder in 2023, the company shifted fully to Terran R and now uses a hybrid manufacturing approach that combines additive manufacturing for fast iteration with more conventional structures for scale and cost. Relativity is focused on engine qualification, integrated vehicle production, and launch-site readiness ahead of a planned late-2026 debut from Cape Canaveral.

Space Pioneer

B

Private

Space Pioneer (Beijing Tianbing Technology), founded in 2019 by former LandSpace CTO Kang Yonglai, develops kerosene-liquid oxygen rockets and engines. Its Tianlong-2 became the first privately developed Chinese liquid-propellant rocket to reach orbit (April 2023). The company's flagship is the reusable, Falcon 9-class Tianlong-3 (~17 t to LEO), built for China's satellite-internet constellations, but its April 2026 maiden flight failed about 33 seconds after liftoff. Space Pioneer has raised roughly $764M.

iSpace (Interstellar Glory)

B

Private

iSpace (Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology), founded in 2016 by former state rocket designer Peng Xiaobo, made history in July 2019 when its solid-fuel Hyperbola-1 became the first Chinese privately developed rocket to reach orbit. Hyperbola-1's track record has been uneven (four successes in eight flights), and the company's future now rests on Hyperbola-3, a partially reusable methane-liquid oxygen rocket sized between 8.5 and 13.4 tonnes to LEO. By April 2026, Hyperbola-3's JD-2 engines and both stages had been qualified for flight, a pathfinder was at Wenchang, and the Qinglan recovery drone ship was ready, with a first orbital flight and sea-recovery attempt targeted for 2026. iSpace is one of China's best-funded launch startups.

Orienspace

B

Private

Orienspace (Oriental Space / Dongfang Space), founded in 2020 in Yantai, builds the Gravity (Yinli) family of launch vehicles. Its solid-propellant Gravity-1 is the world's largest and most powerful solid-fuel carrier rocket — sea-launched from a barge off Haiyang and capable of 6,500 kg to LEO — with two successful flights to date (January 2024 maiden, October 2025 second). The company is now developing Gravity-2, a roughly 70-meter, partially reusable kerosene-liquid oxygen heavy-lift rocket powered by nine in-house Yuanli-110 engines and sized at over 20 tonnes to LEO, with a first flight targeted as early as 2026. Orienspace raised an $83.5M Series B in January 2024 and has been valued at roughly $823M.

Deep Blue Aerospace

B

Private

Deep Blue Aerospace (深蓝航天) is a Chinese commercial launch startup built around vertically landing, reusable kerosene–liquid oxygen rockets — positioning itself as one of China's closest analogs to early SpaceX. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Nantong, it has flown a series of VTVL hop tests, most notably a September 2024 high-altitude flight that completed 10 of 11 objectives with ~0.5 m landing accuracy before an anomaly during the final engine shutdown damaged the stage on touchdown. The company is now preparing the maiden flight of its medium-lift Nebula-1, which can loft up to 2,000 kg to LEO on nine Thunder-R engines and is designed for first-stage recovery; the first Nebula-1A vehicle was rolled out to a new sea-recovery pad at Haiyang in March 2026 for a debut flight with a first-stage splashdown attempt. Deep Blue is also developing the much larger Nebula-2 (25,000+ kg to LEO) and has begun pre-selling suborbital space-tourism tickets for flights targeted in 2027. It has raised roughly $252M to date.

ExPace

B

State-Owned (CASIC subsidiary)

ExPace (航天科工火箭技术), also known as CASIC Rocket Technology Company, is the commercial launch arm of state-owned missile and aerospace giant CASIC (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation). Founded in 2016 and based in Wuhan, it markets the solid-propellant Kuaizhou ('fast vessel') family — derived from missile technology — for rapid, low-cost small-satellite launches that can be readied in hours. The workhorse Kuaizhou-1A (and its upgraded 1A Pro) has flown about 30 times, and the larger Kuaizhou-11 returned to service in 2022 and reached its fifth flight in March 2026; across all variants the family has logged roughly 38 launches. ExPace was an early mover in China's commercial sector — it famously auctioned a Kuaizhou-1A launch on Taobao for about $5.6M in 2020 — but its all-solid, expendable vehicles are increasingly challenged by reusable kerolox startups, and CASIC is pursuing larger Kuaizhou-21/-31 and reusable concepts to keep pace.

Space Epoch

B

Private

Space Epoch (箭元科技), legally Beijing Jianyuan Technology and branded 'Sepoch', is a Chinese commercial launch startup developing the Yuanxingzhe-1 ('Hiker-1') — a stainless-steel, methane–liquid oxygen, partially reusable medium-lift rocket whose sea-recovery, low-cost design draws frequent comparisons to a smaller SpaceX Starship. On May 29, 2025 it pulled off China's first sea-based vertical-takeoff/vertical-landing recovery test: a single-engine demonstrator flew a ~125-second suborbital hop to roughly 2.5 km and executed a controlled splashdown off Haiyang, Shandong, with the stainless stage recovered largely intact. Rather than build its own engines, Space Epoch buys methalox powerplants from engine maker Jiuzhou Yunjian. In January 2026 it broke ground on a 5.2 billion yuan (~$740M) sea-recovery rocket plant in Hangzhou sized for up to 25 vehicles a year, aiming to cut launch costs toward 20,000 yuan/kg. Three Yuanxingzhe-1 rockets are in production for a first orbital launch and recovery attempt targeted by the end of 2026. The company has also signed a headline-grabbing Taobao/Alibaba partnership exploring rocket-based parcel delivery and a cooperation toward a new MEO satellite constellation.

Cosmoleap

C

Private

Cosmoleap (大航跃迁), legally Dahang Yueqian Technology, is a Chinese launch startup founded in March 2024 by Chen Shuguang to build the Yueqian-1 ('Leap-1') — and notably is the first Chinese company to pursue a SpaceX Starship-style 'chopstick' tower-catch recovery instead of landing legs. The roughly 70 m-tall, 4.2 m-diameter, methane–liquid oxygen two-stage rocket is designed to lift about 18,000 kg to LEO when expended or ~12,000 kg with the first stage recovered, on a cluster of nine ~80-ton-class engines reusable up to 20 times. It initially flies the YF-209 engine sourced from CASC's Academy of Aerospace Liquid Propulsion Technology while developing its own 100-ton-class Qingyu-11 methalox engine (targeting ~150 t thrust, deep throttling, and up to 50 reuses). Cosmoleap raised roughly 100 million yuan (~$14M) in November 2024 and a 500 million yuan (~$73M) Series A in April 2026 — about 600 million yuan (~$84M) total — led by Qianhai Ark and Puhua Capital. With its design review passed and a tower-catch verification platform and drop tests underway, the company plans final assembly and integrated testing in the second half of 2026 and a debut orbital flight in 2027.