Japan's MUFG Bank, two others lead $290 mln Sierra Space fundraising (updated)
26/09/2023 16:46
(Changes attribution throughout to Sierra after press
statement, adds background on competition and funding paragraphs
5-7)
TOKYO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - MUFG Bank is among three
Japanese firms leading a $290-million fundraising round for U.S.
spaceship company Sierra Space, spearheading a commercial
"spaceport" project in the southwestern region of Oita, the
companies said on Tuesday.
Despite recent setbacks for national space missions,
Japanese companies aiming to foray into space are increasingly
deepening ties with private companies, from American giants such
as SpaceX to home-grown startups.
MUFG Bank, insurer Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire and trading
house Kanematsu together invested several tens of billions of
yen in Sierra, gaining a stake in the unlisted company that was
now valued at $5.3 billion, Sierra said.
The investments from Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire, a unit of
Tokio Marine Holdings 8766.T , and the two other companies is
part of a "long-term strategic relationship with our Japanese
partners", Sierra's CEO Tom Vice said in a statement.
Prior Sierra investors General Atlantic, Coatue and Moore
Strategic Ventures, which in 2021 led a $1.4 billion Series A
fundraising for the company, also participated in the latest
funding round, Sierra said.
Sierra Space, spun off in 2021 from billionaire-owned Sierra
Nevada Corp, is among a handful of space industry players
attempting to build a private space station that NASA hopes will
replace the two decade-old International Space Station by 2030.
Rivals in the space station business include Houston,
Texas-based Axiom Space, which in August closed a $350 million
funding round anchored by Saudi investors Aljazira Capital and
South Korea's Boryung Co., Ltd.
Sierra next year expects to launch its first Dream Chaser
spaceplane, designed to carry cargo and crews to orbit. The
company signed a partnership in December with Kanematsu, Japan
Airlines 9201.T and the Oita prefectural government to turn a
regional airport into Asia's first "horizontal spaceport".
The Oita project took a hit this year from the bankruptcy of
another U.S. space company Virgin Orbit VORB.O , which had
partnered with airline ANA Holdings 9202.T .
MUFG Bank, one of Japan's three biggest, has invested in
domestic space startups such as orbital debris-removal firm
Astroscale.
Tokio Marine's rival Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance said it
provided the world's first "lunar insurance" to ispace inc's
9348.T moon landing mission, which failed in April.
The vigorous commercial projects stand in contrast with the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA) unsuccessful space
missions since last year.
But its SLIM lander launched this month would make Japan the
fifth in the world to put a spacecraft on the moon if the early
2024 mission succeeds.
($1=148.8700 yen)
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya;))