Japanese Startup Letara Raises $16M to Scale Hybrid Rockets From Satellites to Defense

Japanese Startup Letara Raises $16M to Scale Hybrid Rockets From Satellites to Defense

Sapporo sits far from Tokyo’s corporate towers. Yet a small team there just secured ¥2.6 billion, about $16 million, to push hybrid rocket technology into new territory. Letara, spun out of Hokkaido University in 2020, started with thrusters for small satellites. Now it eyes larger systems for launch vehicles, orbital transfers and defense applications. Co-CEO Shota Hirai spoke plainly about the shift. “With this round, we will go beyond demonst…

Letara raises ¥2.6bn (roughly $16mn) for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive

Letara, a Hokkaido University spinout, has raised about ¥2.6bn, roughly $16mn, for hybrid rocket engines that use plastic as fuel and are not legally classified as explosives. Germany’s HyImpulse raised €45mn for the same approach last October. A Japanese startup has raised about $16mn to build rocket engines that burn plastic. Letara, a spinout from […] This story continues at The Next Web

Japanese space tech startup Letara expands beyond satellite thrusters with $16M

Japanese space startup Letara is betting its hybrid rocket technology can move beyond small satellite thrusters into a broader market for space, defense and security, after raising ¥2.6 billion ($16 million).

Letara Raises ¥2.6B to Build its Hybrid Rocket Engine Tech

Japanese propulsion startup Letara closed a ¥2.6B ($16M) pre-Series A round to fund the development of its low-cost, hybrid engine tech.