Interstellar Technologies Secures $89M in Series F Round

Interstellar Technologies Inc., which aims to become a comprehensive space infrastructure company through its rocket and communications satellite businesses, is pleased to announce that it has raised an additional 8.9 billion yen in Series F funding through a third-party allotment of 6.5 billion yen underwritten by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Space Frontier 2 Fund managed by Sparx Asset Management Co., Ltd., Japanet Holdings Co., Ltd., and existing shareholders, as well as a loan of 2.4 billion yen from financial institutions.

In addition, we have signed a business partnership agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation to support the construction of supply chains in the space-related industry. This marks the bank’s first investment in a space-related startup company.

Interstellar Technologies is a leading private space transportation company in Japan, and aims to be the first company in Japan to vertically integrate rocket and communications satellite businesses. In the rocket business, the development of the small satellite launch rocket ZERO has been adopted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “Small Business Innovation Promotion Project (SBIR Phase 3)”, and the company was selected as one of three companies that passed the initial stage gate screening. In addition, we have entered into a business partnership with Woven by Toyota Corporation , which invested in us at the first close of Series F, to transform the structure of rockets from one-off production to industrial products that can withstand frequent launches, and are accelerating our efforts to establish a space transportation service that can be launched frequently and at low cost.

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Meanwhile, the satellite business specializes in communications satellites, which require a large number of launches and can be maximized by being owned by a rocket company. The US rocket company SpaceX is growing its business with the “Starlink” internet service via communications satellites, while Interstellar Technologies is advancing research and development while utilizing projects commissioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and the Space Strategy Fund implemented by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The newly raised funds will be used for the development and manufacturing of Rocket ZERO and research and development of satellites, aiming to further expand both businesses.

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