Adaspace Technology, a Chengdu company that builds satellites designed to run artificial intelligence models in orbit, opened books on Thursday for a Hong Kong initial public offering that could raise up to about HK$1 billion, according to its prospectus filed with the stock exchange.

The company is selling 30,121,000 H shares at HK$24.90 to HK$33.20 each, which works out to roughly HK$750 million to HK$1 billion before any upsizing. At those prices, Adaspace would be valued at HK$15 billion to HK$20 billion when trading starts, which the formal notice puts at Friday, Nov. 13, under stock code 6935.

For investors in Asia, the deal is a test of how far Hong Kong's appetite for Chinese deep-tech listings stretches. Adaspace is loss-making, its revenue fell in the first half of 2026, and its cornerstone book is thin. It comes during a busy stretch for the exchange: a separate batch of offerings, including Chinese GPU designer Denglin's, opened in late October, and HKEX's new listings page now lists 13 companies.

What Adaspace sells

Adaspace, known in Chinese as Chengdu Guoxing Yuhang, describes itself as a commercial aerospace company that designs and makes satellites and sells services built on them. It says it put China's first AI application satellite into orbit in December 2018 and, on May 14, 2025, launched what it calls the world's first AI computing satellite constellation, a group of 12 satellites, citing research firm Frost & Sullivan.

A second constellation of eight AI computing satellites went up on Oct. 14, 2026, the prospectus says, and the company has signed with two launch providers to put another 14 satellites into orbit in the fourth quarter. It signed cooperation agreements with Tencent Cloud in June and SenseTime in July, and in July took orders from SenseTime to develop two AI computing satellites.

Most of its revenue still comes from what it calls satellite-based solutions, software and data services for city management, tourism and other uses, though that share has fallen as satellite sales have grown. Those solutions made up 90.7% of revenue in 2023 and 41.7% in the first half of 2026.

Losses widen as revenue grows

Revenue rose 27% in 2025 to RMB702.7 million, from RMB553.5 million a year earlier, which the company attributed mainly to the 12-satellite launch. The net loss widened to RMB255.9 million from RMB177.2 million.

The first half of 2026 was mixed. Revenue slipped 6.3% to RMB226.1 million from RMB241.3 million a year earlier, as solutions income fell. The loss narrowed to RMB150.8 million from RMB192.0 million, helped by a small reversal of impairment charges after a RMB95.0 million hit in 2025. Research and development spending was RMB108.6 million in the six months, up from RMB97.7 million.

The listing qualifies under the main board's market capitalization and revenue test rather than the Chapter 18C regime for pre-commercial technology companies that Denglin used, according to the prospectus.

Small cornerstone book, Guotai Junan leads

Cornerstone investors have agreed to buy about HK$60 million of shares at the final price. That is roughly 6% of the offer at the top of the range and 8% at the bottom, a small anchor by recent Hong Kong standards. Guotai Junan Capital is sole sponsor, with Guotai Junan Securities (Hong Kong) and CCB International as overall coordinators.

Only 10% of the shares, 3,012,100, are set aside for Hong Kong retail investors at first, subject to the exchange's reallocation rules if demand is heavy. The company can raise the offer by up to 15% through an offer size adjustment option, and the underwriters have a further 15% over-allotment option.

At the HK$29.05 midpoint, Adaspace expects net proceeds of about HK$772.4 million. It plans to put 35.6% into research and development, 24.4% into building a Shenzhen center, 20% into acquisitions and strategic investments, and 10% each into repaying borrowings and working capital. Listing expenses are estimated at HK$102.6 million, about 11.7% of gross proceeds, an unusually high share.

No single shareholder will control the company after the deal. Founder and chairman Lu Chuan and three affiliated entities will hold voting rights over 21.68% of the shares and will be treated as the single largest group of shareholders, the prospectus says. U.S. persons, as defined in a U.S. Treasury rule restricting outbound investment, are barred from subscribing, according to the formal notice.

The retail offer closes at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 10. Adaspace expects to fix the price by noon on Wednesday, Nov. 11, and to publish the final price, the level of demand and allocation results by 11 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 12, the day before its shares are due to start trading.