Sierra Space – a leading commercial space company building the first end-to-end business and technology platform in space with $3.4 billion in customer contracts – recently announced it had closed a $290 million Series B funding round. This funding round brings the company’s total capital to $1.7 billion, the largest ever capital raised by a commercial space company over the combined Series A and B rounds. This milestone elevated Sierra Space’s valuation to $5.3 billion and reaffirmed the company’s position as a leader in the new global space industry.
With this latest private funding round, Sierra Space expects to forge critical global partnerships and accelerate plans to build a transformational space tech ecosystem that will revolutionize the space economy of tomorrow. And the company is currently transitioning the Dream Chaser spaceplane from years of development to recurring mission operations for NASA cargo resupply flights to the International Space Station (ISS). Plus, the company has been in the development of the first commercial space station for five years, successfully achieving several hardware design and testing milestones; full-scale testing is due by the end of this year. The program’s maturity cemented Sierra Space’s position as the industry leader in business-ready commercial space station development for use in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and deep space.
This funding round is co-led by Japan’s largest bank, MUFG, Kanematsu Corporation (a Japanese trading company), and Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance (Japan’s largest property and casualty insurance group) with participation from Sierra Space’s existing investors. And the companies are already participating in a JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency) study to explore how to conduct activities in LEO as the ISS approaches the end of service.
This latest funding round added further momentum to Sierra Space’s growing partnership network in Japan, including the exploration of Oita Airport as a landing site for Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane, with partners Oita Prefecture, Kanematsu and Japan Airlines, a burgeoning partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop a wide range of technologies to orbit and on orbit.
A family of reusable spaceplanes (Dream Chaser) has three variants leveraging flexible design and performance versatility to address cargo, crewed or national security space requirements across domestic and international commercial, civil government and defense customer segments. And the Dream Chaser is capable of transporting crew and cargo to and from LEO and facilitating a 1.5 low-g landing on compatible commercial runways around the world. Dream Chaser is backed by a NASA contract for performing cargo resupply missions to the ISS and in connection with the company’s Space Technologies business, contributes to $3.4 billion in active contracts.
KEY QUOTES:
“Sierra Space is excited to create a long-term strategic relationship with our Japanese investors and industry partners. As we transition our revolutionary Dream Chaser spaceplane into operations for NASA cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, we focus our capital deployment to the development and operations of the first commercial space station – the next step in our in-space infrastructure – the growth of our national security offering and scaling our space systems components business.”
— Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space
“MUFG aspires to help all our stakeholders take the next step forward, and we believe this should serve as the starting point for all business activities. Sierra Space Corporation’s aim to build a platform in space that will benefit life on Earth is the very embodiment of this concept, and MUFG has decided to invest in Low Earth Orbit to support commercialization, the creation of new industries, and the resolution of social issues. In the future, MUFG, alongside Kanematsu, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance, and Sierra Space, will not only contribute to the regional economy of Oita Prefecture, but also create social impact in Japan and throughout Asia.”
— Junichi Hanzawa, President & CEO of MUFG Bank, Ltd.
