Japanese satellite imagery startup iQPS untraded with glut of bids in Tokyo debut (updated)

QPS Holdings

06/12/2023 24:10

By Kantaro  Komiya
       TOKYO, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Shares of Institute for Q-shu
Pioneers of Space (iQPS) were untraded with a glut of buy orders
in their Tokyo growth-market debut on Wednesday after the
satellite imagery startup raised 3.48 billion yen ($24 million)
in an initial public offering.
    Shares of iQPS  5595.T  were deluged with buy orders at the
initial public offering (IPO) price of 390 yen.
    Spun off from a Kyushu University space engineering lab in
2005, iQPS becomes the second major space venture to list in
Tokyo after ispace inc  9348.T  had a blistering debut in April.
    The startup has developed small observation satellites using
a technology known as the synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which
takes picture of the earth's surface with microwaves. Unlike
optical sensors, SAR can capture images during dark nights and
through clouds.
        In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, SAR imagery
taken by satellite companies such as U.S.-based 
    Capella Space
     and Finland's 
    ICEYE
     has contributed to the monitoring of the war by the Western
intelligence community.
  
    Japan is pushing to build a homegrown space industry,
especially given deepening concern about China's growing
technological and military clout. Japan has a number of
space-related startups, including lunar transport startup
ispace.
    The market debuts of the two space ventures mark a stark
contrast to the recent setbacks the state-funded Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) has faced in rocket development. In
March, JAXA manually destroyed its new H3 launcher midair due to
ignition trouble, where iQPS lost two of its satellites.
    The company sold 8.92 million shares after pricing the IPO
at the top of its indicated range of 380-390 yen. That doesn't
include a greenshoe option of 1.34 million shares.
    More than 80% of the shares were sold to domestic investors,
with just under 19%, or 1.69 million, going to overseas
investors.
    In June, iQPS successfully launched its third satellite on a
SpaceX rocket, which has generated commercial imagery with
resolution of as fine as 46 centimetres, it said in its
prospectus. It will manufacture 10 SAR satellites a year from
2024, aiming to establish a "constellation" of 24 satellites
around the earth to obtain real-time data by 2028.
    Japan's military build-up has also been a boon for aerospace
businesses like iQPS, which said it relied on government clients
such as the defence ministry for 94% of its 37 billion yen ($252
million) sales in the year to May 2023, according to the
prospectus. The government has promised financial support for
space startups with SAR, small-rocket and other technologies.
    Running at a net loss of 1.1 billion yen in the previous
financial year, iQPS has not set a target for when it will turn
a profit.

($1 = 146.7100 yen)

 (Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by David Dolan and
Chang-Ran Kim)
 ((Kantaro.Komiya@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @kantarokomiya))