Billion-level unicorn Galaxy Aerospace is pushing hard for an IPO, with Ge Weidong and Lei Jun remaining out of sight behind the scenes

Source: Global Tiger Finance App

Recently, Galaxy Aerospace completed IPO counseling filing with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, which means this billion-dollar valuation commercial aerospace unicorn has officially launched its push into the capital market. Like many private commercial aerospace companies, Galaxy Aerospace’s rapid development also relies heavily on capital support, including multiple rounds of investment from well-known investors such as Ge Weidong and Lei Jun.

On March 30, Galaxy Aerospace completed IPO counseling filing with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, with Huatai United Securities as the counseling institution.

As a “new star” in the commercial aerospace field, Galaxy Aerospace has completed eight rounds of financing since its establishment. In addition to support from top institutions like Hillhouse and IDG Capital, it has also attracted investments from big names like Ge Weidong and Lei Jun.

From a valuation perspective, since the A+ round in November 2018, Galaxy Aerospace’s “value” has increased from tens of billions to 32 billion yuan, meaning early investors like Ge Weidong and Lei Jun have made substantial profits. Once successfully listed, Galaxy Aerospace’s valuation in the secondary market is expected to further rise.

Billion-dollar Galaxy Aerospace aims for IPO

Driven by the hot trend in commercial aerospace, another billion-dollar unicorn has initiated an IPO.

On March 30, Galaxy Aerospace completed IPO counseling filing with the Beijing Securities Regulatory Bureau, with Huatai United Securities as the counseling institution. Public information shows that Galaxy Aerospace was founded in April 2018, and is a provider and manufacturer of satellite internet solutions dedicated to autonomous research and development and low-cost mass production of communication payloads, core single units, and satellite platforms.

In addition, Galaxy Aerospace is also responsible for developing the GW constellation satellite internet system, including the 07 group of satellites, which is the first batch of such satellites produced by a private commercial aerospace company. This group of satellites was successfully launched in August 2025.

Behind commercialization are supporting R&D and manufacturing capabilities. Currently, the company has built internationally leading capabilities in communication payloads, core single units, and solar wings in Xi’an, Chengdu, and Beijing, and is constructing a new generation satellite intelligent manufacturing plant in Nantong, capable of mass-producing hundreds of satellites.

As of January 19, 2026, Galaxy Aerospace has successfully launched more than 40 advanced satellites independently developed, including the world’s first high-frequency low-orbit millimeter-wave satellite, China’s first batch-produced low-orbit broadband communication satellites, China’s first flat-panel stackable satellite with flexible solar wings, batch-produced SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellites, and mid-to-upper atmospheric boundary detection remote sensing satellites.

With advanced technology levels and strong mass production capabilities, Galaxy Aerospace has gained recognition from many clients and secured orders worth billions.

Ge Weidong and Lei Jun stay in the background

As a “new star” in private commercial aerospace, Galaxy Aerospace was born with a golden spoon.

Shortly after its founding, Lei Jun’s Shunwei Capital, the former employer of founder Xu Ming, extended an olive branch and participated in the Series A financing, along with Five Sources Capital and IDG Capital.

After receiving investment from Lei Jun and other backers, Galaxy Aerospace quickly achieved breakthroughs. In October 2018, the company successfully launched the high-performance onboard computing and space imaging payload “Yuqian No. 1” into space; the next year, the team developed low-orbit satellite payloads for Q/V bands and China’s first low-orbit satellite communication system with 10Gbps capacity, demonstrating low-cost and scalable replication feasibility.

As Galaxy Aerospace continued to develop, the company launched another round of financing in 2020. In the B+ round, Chaos Investment, owned by Ge Weidong, joined in, with continued participation from Matrix Partners China, China International Capital Corporation (CICC), Shunwei, Five Sources, and Junlian Capital; after this round, the company’s valuation increased to 8 billion yuan. In September 2022, Chaos Investment participated again in the B++ round, showing Ge Weidong’s strong interest in Galaxy Aerospace.

By early 2026, the listing plans of SpaceX made domestic commercial aerospace companies highly sought after in the primary and secondary markets, with investors scrambling for related companies not yet listed.

Galaxy Aerospace was one of the beneficiaries, with its pre-valuation in the C round approaching 17 billion yuan and planning to raise 2-3 billion yuan. Final participants included Beijing Jingguo Investment Fund, Wuxi Liangxi Sci-Tech Fund, Yizhuang State Investment, Wuxi Transportation Group, Hefei Industrial Investment, Beijing Commercial Aerospace and Low-Altitude Economy Industry Investment Fund, as well as several previous investors.

After this round, Galaxy Aerospace’s valuation rose to 32 billion yuan, and in less than eight years, the company’s valuation has increased tenfold. Early investors Lei Jun’s Shunwei and Ge Weidong’s Chaos have reaped huge profits.

Cheetah Mobile President Xu Ming’s second entrepreneurial journey

Xu Ming, a master’s graduate from Harbin Institute of Technology’s Mechanical Department, known as the “First of the Seven Sons of National Defense,” has served as CTO and President of Cheetah Mobile. He led Cheetah Mobile to list on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014.

From early interviews, it was learned that Xu Ming’s hometown had poor signal coverage, which fostered his strong desire for interconnected communication. In 2011, he watched a documentary about the Hubble Telescope, which revealed the remnants of the Big Bang and distant nebulae as clear and vivid as in a dream, inspiring him to envision establishing interaction with space through devices.

At that time, 5G was just becoming popular, and regions like oceans and deserts lacked base station coverage. Based on this, Xu Ming set a goal to provide global 5G satellite communication services. Just a year after Musk announced SpaceX Starlink and Boeing disclosed its satellite internet plans.

In April 2018, at age 40, Xu Ming’s Galaxy Aerospace officially started operations in Haidian, Beijing. At that time, only some military research institutes in China were tackling key low-orbit satellite technology challenges. Globally, low-orbit satellites were still in planning and R&D stages, with industry talent extremely scarce.

To find relevant talent, Xu Ming returned to his alma mater, HIT, inviting professors. Deng Zongquan was appointed as Chairman of the Technical Committee, and Zhang Shijie as Chief Scientist. Deng Zongquan is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, vice president of HIT, and director of the National Defense Key Discipline Laboratory for Space Mechanics and Control Technology. Zhang Shijie is a professor and doctoral supervisor at HIT, with over 20 years of experience in small satellite design and development, having participated in multiple small satellite projects.

While skilled manufacturing talent was available, the company still lacked internet and business leaders. Therefore, Xu Ming recruited two people from his former employer, Cheetah Mobile: Chang Ming, responsible for AI algorithms, and Gao Qianfeng, responsible for global business expansion.

From the shareholder list, Deng Zongquan and Zhang Shijie do not directly hold shares in Galaxy Aerospace. Chang Ming and Gao Qianfeng hold shares through the employee stock ownership platform “Nantong Mantian Yixing Information Technology.”

Additionally, two other initial individual shareholders, Dai Xuguang (former Alibaba engineer and Xu Ming’s tech circle friend) and Shen Ronghua (one of the founders and initial shareholders of Galaxy Aerospace), hold shares via the employee stock platform “Xian Interstellar Communications.”

2026 marks the eighth year of Xu Ming’s second entrepreneurial journey and Galaxy Aerospace’s official IPO challenge. For both Xu Ming and Galaxy Aerospace, this is a significant leap forward.