ElevationSpace, a startup whose core technology is re-entry and recovery from space to Earth, announced on 19 June that it had secured ¥6.4bn (about $40m) in a Series B funding round.
The company was founded in 2021 by Ryohei Kobayashi. Kobayashi, who has roots in the Tohoku region—he is a graduate of the National Institute of Technology, Akita College, and of Tohoku University—has based the company’s headquarters in Sendai, Miyagi prefecture, with a plant in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture.
The re-entry satellite “Aoba” and ElevationSpace’s technology
The project ElevationSpace is currently pursuing is “Aoba”, Japan’s first privately led re-entry satellite. A 220kg-class satellite, it is to be placed into low Earth orbit in the latter half of this year or later by Spectrum, a rocket built by Germany’s Isar Aerospace, after which it is planned to return its re-entry capsule to Earth.
Beyond Aoba, ElevationSpace’s technology will also underpin the businesses it plans to roll out thereafter—the space-environment utilisation and recovery platform “ELS-R” and the small-scale, high-frequency transport service “ELS-RS”. Three technologies in particular stand out:
- Propulsion technology
- Spacecraft bus technology
- Re-entry and recovery technology
Propulsion technology relates chiefly to the engine used to leave orbit on the return to Earth, while spacecraft bus technology concerns the satellite’s main body. As for the re-entry and recovery technology, which protects samples and the like during re-entry, the company succeeded in a high-altitude drop test in February 2025.
ElevationSpace is also aiming for crewed space transport in the 2030s. In July 2025 it set out a corporate vision to that end: to build “a transport network connecting people and goods in orbit”.
“We aim to become the space infrastructure of the post-ISS era”, says the CEO
The Series B round drew participation from numerous venture-capital firms and corporate investors.
The funds will go towards “the development and operation of transport services and space-environment utilisation services from space to Earth, as well as global expansion”, the company said.
Kobayashi, the CEO, commented: “Powered by the funds raised in this round, we will further accelerate development of the successor craft to our first vehicle, ‘Aoba’, while driving full-scale entry into the European and American markets. To become a bearer of global space infrastructure in the post-ISS (International Space Station) era, we will keep taking on challenges at full speed, together with the shareholders and partners who place their trust in us.”
