Zhongke Chuangxing / CASSTAR

CASSTAR (Zhongke Chuangxing, 中科创星) is a Chinese early-stage venture capital and incubation platform focused on so-called "hard tech" (硬科技) — deep technology spun out of research institutes and universities. The firm describes itself as the originator of the "hard tech" concept in China and a pioneer of hard-tech investing, building an ecosystem that combines research institutions, early-stage capital, startup incubation platforms and post-investment services.

Importantly, CASSTAR is not a satellite or spacecraft manufacturer itself. It is an investment and incubation institution that funds and supports hard-tech startups across multiple sectors, including aerospace, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, information technology, intelligent manufacturing, new energy, new materials and optoelectronics/chips. Its aerospace-focused portfolio has included well-known Chinese commercial space companies such as CAS Space (中科宇航) and Chang Guang Satellite Technology (长光卫星), among others.

The company operates dual headquarters in Xi'an and Beijing, with an additional office in Shanghai. CASSTAR (Xi'an) operates as a one-stop hard-tech industrial incubation and venture capital platform, pairing talent, technology, capital and after-investment services to help commercialize research from institutes such as the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. CASSTAR (Beijing) was established later in Zhongguancun, Beijing's national innovation demonstration zone, to leverage the capital's research resources and talent pool.

Because CASSTAR functions as an investor/incubator rather than a hardware or software vendor, it does not manufacture or sell space products, satellites, subsystems or components under its own brand — its role in the space sector is as a capital provider and ecosystem builder for hard-tech (including space-tech) founders.