Adaspace's backlog turns into revenue only after launch and handover, and a January rocket failure that destroyed two of its satellites shows how one delay can shift income.
Adaspace, a Chengdu company that builds satellites carrying AI computing hardware, is due to start trading in Hong Kong on November 13, TechNode reported on November 10, citing the company’s filing. Its share sale ran from November 5 to November 10. The company is selling 30.121 million H shares at HK$24.90 to HK$33.20 each, which would raise up to HK$1 billion, with Guotai Junan International as sole sponsor, according to Guandian. Its stock code will be 6935.
Early demand from retail investors was soft. By 7 p.m. on November 6, brokers had extended HK$26.33 million in margin loans for the deal, short of the roughly HK$100 million the Hong Kong public tranche was set to raise, Guandian reported, citing combined broker data. Only a tenth of the shares were set aside for Hong Kong retail buyers. The final subscription figures and the offer price are still to be announced.
Two cornerstone investors have committed HK$60 million between them: Kamshin Oriental (锦信) with HK$55 million and a Jinko group investor with HK$5 million, according to Leidi, in a story carried by Phoenix Finance. At the top of the range, that covers about 1.81 million shares, or roughly 6% of the offering, AASTOCKS calculated.
Adaspace’s losses have widened as it shifts toward satellites
Adaspace was founded in 2018 and launched its first AI application satellite that December. In May 2025 it put 12 computing satellites into a single orbital plane, followed by eight more in October 2026, TechNode reported. Between those launches the company said it had run Alibaba’s Qwen3 model on a satellite already in orbit.
Revenue grew from RMB508 million in 2023 to RMB553 million in 2024 and RMB700 million in 2025, then slipped 6.2% year on year to RMB226 million in the first half of 2026, Leidi reported from the prospectus. The loss for the period widened from RMB139 million in 2023 to RMB177 million in 2024 and RMB256 million in 2025, and was RMB150 million in the first six months of 2026. Adaspace had RMB686 million in cash and cash equivalents at June 30.
Satellites and related services made up 57.7% of revenue in the first half of 2026, up from 0.6% in 2023, according to TechNode. Adaspace holds orders for 114 AI satellites it has yet to deliver, with a combined contract value of RMB3.48 billion as of October 20.
Launch timing decides when the order book turns into revenue
Much of that backlog becomes revenue only after a satellite is launched, tested in orbit and handed over, TechNode noted, so a delayed launch can push income into a later reporting period even when the hardware is finished. The risk is concrete. In January 2026, a rocket carrying two of Adaspace’s experimental satellites failed, and both were lost, Leidi reported from the prospectus. In March the company signed a contract with a launch provider to fly eight AI computing satellites in 2026.
The company also wants to sell computing time in orbit. Under its Star-Compute plan it aims to link satellites so they can share computing capacity, storage and software, and it targets 100 satellites under the plan by the end of 2028, TechNode reported. 36Kr described an eventual network of about 2,800 computing satellites; TechNode reported that the 2,800 figure refers to the spectrum and orbital resources behind the plan, not to satellites Adaspace has committed to launch. Shanghai has set out a similar ambition for orbital AI computing through its Mingzhu plan.
Private investors paid up before the float
Adaspace’s private valuation rose quickly. It raised RMB522 million at a post-money valuation of RMB4.12 billion at the end of 2023, RMB538 million at RMB6.538 billion at the end of 2024, and RMB3.55 billion in April 2026 at a post-money valuation of about RMB11.554 billion, Leidi reported. 36Kr said Ye Guofu, founder of retailer Miniso, put in RMB160 million in his own name in that round at RMB20.2 per share, alongside Sequoia China and entities linked to JinkoSolar.
Founder and chairman Lu Chuan controls about 30.77% of the voting rights before the offering through entities he controls and voting arrangements, according to Leidi. Guandian reported that 35.6% of the net proceeds will go to research and development, 24.4% to building a center in Shenzhen, 20% to strategic investments and acquisitions, and 10% to repaying a bank loan for its Chengdu headquarters building, bought in 2024, and other borrowings.
The offer price, the first figure the company still has to announce, will show how close institutional buyers came to the April round’s RMB11.554 billion valuation. The first day of trading on November 13 will then show whether retail investors warm to a company still losing money while it waits for its satellites to reach orbit.