Xingyi Core Energy Technology (Sometimes known as "Starwing"), a China-based developer of space-grade perovskite solar cells and flexible packaging substrates, has completed a Pre-A round of strategic financing worth nearly RMB 100 million (about $14 million). The round was led by Junda Co., Shanghai Future Industry Fund, Lingang Blue Bay Capital, and Nanxun Luyao, with additional participation from investors tied to the co-founders of Xinyang Semiconductor, while existing shareholder Zhongke Shenguang increased its stake.
The company says the funds will go toward technical iteration, space-environment testing, and on-orbit satellite verification of its perovskite photovoltaic cells and space-grade CPI flexible packaging substrates.
The company's founding team and R&D group originate from the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and it has been through a rapid ownership evolution over the past year. Operating originally as Shangyi Optoelectronics, it received an investment from Drinda in December 2025. Then in January 2026, listed solar cell manufacturer Junda Co. took a 16.67% equity stake for RMB 30 million (about $4.5 million). As part of that transaction, the business was reorganized into its current form, taking over Shangyi Optoelectronics' assets, personnel, and operations.
The company positions itself against a backdrop of rapidly growing demand for lightweight satellite power: industry forecasts cited by the company put the global low-orbit satellite population at over 300,000 by 2031, while traditional rigid solar wings run 20-30 kg/kW and account for 35-40% of total satellite mass — a growing mismatch with new satellites' need for lighter, more compact, higher-payload designs. Flexible, retractable solar wings can cut stowage volume by more than 60% for the same power-generation area while improving specific power-to-mass ratio.
Xingyi combines two technology tracks that have each been advancing separately: replacing rigid cerium-glass cover plates with space-grade CPI (SCPI) flexible polyimide substrates, which can cut weight by over 40% and bend to a radius of 5mm or less, and using perovskite cells that offer stronger low-light response and a much higher specific power-to-mass ratio.
The company has pursued composition optimization of the absorption layer, interface defect passivation, and suppression of ion migration to withstand space conditions such as thermal shock, proton radiation, atomic oxygen, and vacuum ultraviolet; simulation data shows cell efficiency retention above 90% after 4,000 thermal cycles between -120°C and 120°C. On the CPI side, the company says its material technology is comparable to leading U.S. products, cutting solar wing areal density by 40-55% versus glass packaging and potentially reducing per-satellite launch costs in low-Earth-orbit missions by roughly 15-20%.
The company has already completed on-orbit verification of its CPI films through Jietai Aerospace, a joint venture with investor Junda Co., and plans to fly a perovskite flexible photovoltaic module for on-orbit verification aboard the Ziwei spacecraft in October 2026 to test adaptability and stability in the space environment. It describes itself as a participating space-photovoltaics member of Shanghai's "Star Hub Plan" computing-satellite constellation initiative, and says it is scaling up sample deliveries of standardized flexible photovoltaic modules and integrated solar-wing solutions for commercial satellite manufacturers.
CEO Wu Zhengyu described the company's approach to adapting perovskite for space in an a previous interview: on cell sizing, he noted that space power systems favor high-voltage, low-current designs, leading the company to keep individual perovskite cells small (5cm x 5cm rather than square-meter scale) - a choice that, unlike in cost-sensitive terrestrial manufacturing, allows the use of higher-cost, higher-yield fabrication processes suited to space's different economics. On validation, he described a staged "small steps, fast progress" roadmap: an initial phase testing CPI film alone aboard the Tianyan 27 mission in May, with three months of stable data now published; a second phase testing CPI's protection of the perovskite absorption layer aboard the Ziwei B300 spacecraft; and a third phase, planned before the end of the year, verifying the full CPI-perovskite cell and flexible solar wing structure.
