WARPSPACE, a spin-out space startup from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, announced 400M JPY (US$3.6 million) in Series A funding for its development of an inter-satellite optical communication relay network service. The concept is to use small optical relay satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Communication to earth stations would also use lasers.
Investors include The Space Frontier Fund (operated by Sparks Innovation for Future Co., Ltd.) and KSK Angel Fund LLC, which is led by professional soccer player Keisuke Honda.
Shinichiro KENGAKU, Space Frontier Fund, President of General Partner, states: “We believe that the 2020s will be a decade in which the utilization of satellite data will solve various social issues on the earth. We look forward to the foresight of WARPSPACE, which aims to eliminate the communicational bottleneck that is a condition for realizing such a society. We hope that WARPSPACE will open up the very frontier of the Japanese NewSpace industry.”
