Space BD, a startup that provides space-related services, announced on June 17 that it had completed an additional tranche of its Series C funding round, bringing the round’s cumulative total to more than ¥3.5 billion (about $22 million).
The company was founded in 2017. Masatoshi Nagasaki, formerly of Mitsui & Co., is its founder and president.
Providing satellite rideshare slots on the H3 rocket launched on June 12
Space BD’s website lists three core business areas: “space infrastructure,” “microgravity utilisation,” and “education and human-resource development.” Space infrastructure covers services such as supporting the placement and launch of satellites aboard rockets; microgravity utilisation involves on-orbit experiments; and education and human-resource development cultivates talent for the space business, in settings ranging from students to companies’ in-house teams.
Because it provides these space-related services both on the ground and in orbit, Space BD defines itself as a “space trading company” (uchu shosha) and has trademarked the term.
On June 12, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) launched the sixth H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture, and Space BD provided launch-integration support for the six satellites aboard it. Four of them used a “commercial rideshare slot” offered by Space BD. The June mission marked the first time such a commercial rideshare slot had been made available on a Japanese flagship rocket (which, alongside the H3, include the H2A and others).
The H3 — a project involving JAXA and Japanese private-sector firms — is targeting a launch cost of ¥5 billion (about $31 million), half that of the H2A. If that target is met, the H3 would come in below SpaceX’s Falcon 9 when looking purely at launch cost.
President: “driving a healthy cycle in which industry and corporate value rise together”
The additional Series C tranche drew participation from several venture-capital firms and Shin Nippon Air Technologies, an air-conditioning design and installation company.
The funds will go towards “strengthening the organisation,” “expanding launch services,” and “reinforcing fabless-manufacturer capabilities.”
“We will continue to make a solid contribution to the development of the space industry, and in the process the company itself will grow; we will doggedly drive a healthy cycle in which the industry and corporate value rise together,” said Nagasaki, Space BD’s president.
