A Ph.D. graduate from Beijing Institute of Technology builds a unicorn: Raises 1 billion yuan from satellite sales and aims for a STAR Market IPO

On September 15th, Beijing Micro and Nano Space Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Micro and Nano Space") officially completed the IPO counseling record filing with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau. The counseling institution is Guotai Haitong Securities, and it plans to be listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

Micro and Nano Space is a professional commercial aerospace enterprise, focusing on satellite manufacturing - providing one-stop services for the entire process from pre - design, mid - production, to post - assembly and testing.

The satellite products of Micro and Nano Space include:

"Space Photographer" - Remote Sensing Satellites: including optical satellites that can take high - definition surface photos and radar satellites that can penetrate clouds and work at night. These images can be used in many fields such as crop monitoring, disaster assessment, and urban planning.

"Space Router" - Communication Satellites: In the future, they can be used to build a globally seamless - covered Internet of Things and Internet, for example, to provide network connections for remote areas and ocean - going ships.

Micro and Nano Space is good at manufacturing satellites with high performance and controllable costs, and has mastered core technologies such as high - resolution remote sensing and synthetic aperture radar (SAR).

Currently, Micro and Nano Space has successfully developed and launched 27 satellites and has successively launched a number of iconic products, including Taijing - 3 01, the first 0.5 - meter - resolution optical remote sensing satellite developed by a private enterprise in China, Taijing - 4 01, the first X - band commercial synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite in China, and Taijing - 4 03, the first commercial Ku - band phased - array radar remote sensing satellite in China.

Data shows that since its establishment, it has completed 14 rounds of financing, with a total financing amount exceeding 2 billion yuan. In June last year, Micro and Nano Space completed a 1 - billion - yuan Series C1 financing. After the investment, its valuation exceeded 7 billion yuan, making it a unicorn enterprise in the commercial aerospace industry. In August this year, Micro and Nano Space completed its latest round of financing.

- 01 -

Micro and Nano Space was founded in August 2017, with its headquarters in the Yongfeng Industrial Base of Zhongguancun, Beijing. It is one of the earliest private commercial aerospace enterprises in China with satellite manufacturing as its core. Its founder, Gao Enyu, is an aerospace expert with a profound professional background.

Gao Enyu is a doctor of aerospace engineering jointly trained by Beijing Institute of Technology and The Pennsylvania State University in the United States. Before founding Micro and Nano Space, he served as the chief designer and director designer of the overall design department in the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology and the China Academy of Space Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.

In 2014, the State Council issued a guiding opinion for the first time to encourage private capital to participate in commercial aerospace, opening the door for social capital to enter the aerospace field.

Gao Enyu realized that with the liberalization of commercial aerospace policies and the rise of global satellite Internet plans (such as SpaceX's Starlink), the Chinese commercial satellite market would also grow.

At the beginning of its establishment, the team even worried about whether there would be enough satellite tasks. But soon, the market demand proved their judgment. Just three months after its establishment, it earned more than one million yuan from selling satellite products.

In 2018, they received an order for two 50 - kilogram satellites for the "Hainan - 1" satellite project, and then obtained orders for several 200 - kilogram satellites, with a contract value of hundreds of millions of yuan.

The development of Micro and Nano Space has not been all smooth sailing. On October 27, 2018, the "Future - 1" satellite it participated in developing failed to enter orbit due to the attitude instability of the third stage of the "Zhuque - 1" rocket it was carried on. But this experience also tempered the team.

After that, it successively completed multiple launch missions successfully. As of the information in 2025, Micro and Nano Space has successfully developed and launched 27 satellites, covering satellites from 10 kg to 1000 kg. It has built the ability to develop more than 60 satellites per year and ranks among the leading enterprises in high - end satellite manufacturing in China.

Its star products include Taijing - 3 01, the first 0.5 - meter - resolution remote sensing satellite developed by a private enterprise in China, Taijing - 4 01, the first X - band commercial SAR satellite in China, and Taijing - 4 03, the first commercial Ku - band phased - array radar remote sensing satellite in China.

Currently, Micro and Nano Space has built a complete closed - loop system for satellite development, production, and testing covering the whole satellite, payloads, and components in Beijing, Changchun, Wuxi, Chengdu and other places, forming the ability to develop more than 60 satellites per year.

The continuous favor of the capital market has injected impetus into the development of Micro and Nano Space.

According to public information, it has completed 14 rounds of financing so far, with a cumulative financing amount exceeding 2 billion yuan. The latest round of financing took place in August this year, and the investors are diverse, including both state - owned capital and many market - oriented investment institutions.

Notably, in June last year, Micro and Nano Space completed a 1 - billion - yuan Series C1 financing, which was the largest - scale financing since its establishment. Its valuation exceeded 7 billion yuan, making it a unicorn enterprise in the commercial aerospace field.

- 02 -

Micro and Nano Space focuses on the development of the "whole satellite" (that is, the whole process of the whole satellite from design to in - orbit operation after launch). It not only manufactures the satellite body but also provides "satellite - ground integration" services such as ground stations, control systems, and in - orbit management (measurement and control, communication, data services, etc.).

Specific products include:

Different types of remote sensing satellites (such as optical remote sensing, high - resolution, infrared, hyperspectral, microwave remote sensing, etc.);

Communication satellites (including broadband Internet communication, narrow - band/low - power communication, etc.);

Ground products: ground stations, measurement and control, data terminals, etc.;

Core components: The autonomy rate of key components such as satellite platforms, on - board antennas, and attitude control computers is relatively high.

Its customers include government scientific research institutions, telecommunications companies, Internet companies, and some emerging commercial application parties. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and some large state - owned enterprises are also its cooperation partners.

In the past few years, it has undertaken supporting tasks for several major national projects. For example, it participated in the development of China's first commercial SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite. This type of satellite can take images at night or in cloudy conditions, filling a gap in the commercial satellite market.

In addition, Micro and Nano Space was also the "first to launch" in the field of small optical remote sensing satellites. It is one of the earliest private enterprises in China to deliver a whole satellite and complete in - orbit operation.

- 03 -

In recent years, Micro and Nano Space has also kept up with several key rhythms in its development.

On the one hand, there is policy support. The state clearly proposed in the "14th Five - Year Plan" to develop commercial aerospace and support the industrialization of satellite Internet and remote sensing applications, which has brought benefits to enterprises like Micro and Nano Space.

On the other hand, there is an explosion of downstream demand.

For example, the digital transformation in rural areas, the intelligent upgrading of the marine fishery industry, and the high - precision positioning of autonomous driving all require more satellites.

For instance, Micro and Nano Space also seized these opportunities and successively launched a series of product lines, deploying satellites in different orbits for communication, remote sensing, and navigation.

If we take a broader view of the entire industry, the aerospace industry is at an exciting turning point.

In the past few decades, aerospace has mostly been the game of the "national team", and it was difficult for ordinary people to feel it personally. But now, commercial aerospace is penetrating every aspect of life.

For example, the construction of the satellite Internet is accelerating. In the future, whether you are on the Qinghai - Tibet Plateau or on an ocean - going fishing boat, you can surf the Internet as smoothly as in the city.

Another example is that weather forecasts will become more and more accurate. They can not only tell you whether it will rain tomorrow but also accurately predict whether a certain highway section will freeze, which all requires more satellites to provide real - time data.

The changes in the agricultural field are more intuitive. In the past, farmers mainly relied on experience to farm. Now, through satellite images, they can know which fields need fertilization and which fields are short of water, achieving "precision agriculture".

Another scenario that is happening is "travel".

In the next few years, if you drive an autonomous vehicle, it is very likely to rely on satellites to provide centimeter - level high - precision positioning. In this way, at highway intersections, vehicles will not deviate from the lane due to GPS drift. For the common people, this means a safer and more reliable experience.

In addition, with the development of satellite communication, problems such as children in mountainous areas taking online classes and workers at sea having video calls with their families, which were difficult in the past, will become as natural as breathing.

In the energy and environmental protection fields, satellites also have great potential.

For example, through remote sensing satellites, the national forest coverage rate, river pollution conditions, and urban smog diffusion paths can be monitored. For the government, these data can help formulate more scientific environmental protection policies; for the common people, the improvement of air quality and the safety of drinking water are all closely related to these technologies.

In the future, with the increasing demand for carbon emission monitoring, satellites will also play the role of "carbon footprint monitors" to help China and the world achieve the "dual - carbon goal".

From a global perspective, the scale of the commercial aerospace industry is also expanding rapidly.

According to Morgan Stanley's prediction, by 2040, the global aerospace economy will reach 1 trillion US dollars, and a large part of it will come from satellite manufacturing and satellite Internet services.

China is the second - largest aerospace market in the world. With the advancement of the "low - orbit satellite Internet" plan, it is expected to form a constellation of hundreds or even thousands of satellites in the next few years.

This article does not constitute any investment advice.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Pencil News" (ID: pencilnews), author: Huatai Shi, published by 36Kr with authorization.