HKATG had beaten SpaceX to the first listed company to have Starlink project

Despite the investors' enthusiasm in investing in SpaceX, a concrete timetable for an IPO making the company available to everyday investors is as yet uncertain. According to CNBC in Feb 2020, SpaceX is considering spinning off its Starlink satellite business and may have an IPO for the unit in the next several years.

Starlink is SpaceX's capital-intensive project to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet. Users of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has grown dramatically from 10,000 in February 2021 to 69,420 in Jun 2021, while it now serves about 90,000 users around the world.

While the date of an IPO for either SpaceX or Starlink remains unclear, there is a company listed in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange named as Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group Limited ("HKATG")(HKSE: 1725), which is also developing another Starlink business. On 6 July 2021, HKATG has announced the "Golden Bauhinia Constellation" project, which provides satellite data reception and application services, and remote sensing big data and AI service to develop the Group's Aerospace Business.

The "Golden Bauhinia Constellation" project aims to launch 165 low-orbit, high-frequency satellites in 2020 covering the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and serve the world's fastest-growing urban centres. The project targets to achieve commercial application and development of communications, navigation, and remote sensing systems with global 24-hour online tracking and the ability to re-visit key areas in under 30 minutes.

The rapid development of international commercial aerospace makes it one of the most dynamic industries after the Internet, AI and 5G. According to the US Satellite Industry Association (SIA), commercial aerospace revenue was US$277.4 billion in 2018 and is expected to increase 10 percent per year. SpaceX's latest funding round valuing it at about US$74 billion was led by Sequoia Capital in Feb 2021. Comparing to the HKATG's market capitalization of HK$10 billion, it implies a huge upside potential of the HKATG's stock price.

HKATG was established in July 2019 as the first aerospace business group in Hong Kong-based on the aerospace industry chain of satellite remote sensing, satellite manufacturing, satellite navigation, satellite communications and satellite remote sensing ground receiving stations. HKATG is by far the very first listed company which is providing the satellite business. The stock price has skyrocketed from HK$2.5 on 8 April 2021 to a historical high of HK$50 on 26 April 2021 after the announcement of its General Offerings.