Synspective raises $43.5m Series C for SAR satellite constellation

Synspective, the Tokyo based SAR (synthetic aperture radar) satellite data specialist, has raised ¥7 billion ($43.5 million) in a Series C funding round.

The company says it will use the new capital to develop, manufacture, launch, and operate the SAR satellites for its constellation. It will also prepare mass production facilities, develop its satellite data systems, and look to expand globally.

The latest funding round was led by Nomura SPARX Investment and also involved JAFCO Group and Mizuho Capital among others.

Synspective

“We consider that society’s demands for the data and solutions provided by Synspective have increased in various fields, such as social infrastructure management, disaster prevention and mitigation, and security, since our initial investment in 2022,” said Shinji Naito,chairman and co-CEO of Nomura SPARX Investment.

“We expect that Synspective will continue to efficiently allocate capital to improve the lives of people around the world through data acquisition and utilization of small SAR satellites. Additionally, we anticipate that Synspective will grow over the medium term as a global company.”

Since its founding, funds raised total ¥28.1 billion ($175 million).

Strix

Synspective develops and operates high-frequency, high-resolution SAR satellites called “StriX” to provide data sets.

It has placed four satellites into orbit so far, which collect data with a ground resolution of 1m (in Sliding Spotlight mode), and 3m (in StripMap mode), and a swath width of 10-30km.

Ten launch

Earlier in this month Synspective signed its largest launch agreement a ten-launch deal with Rocket Lab, which is the sole launch provider its StriX constellation.

The launches in the new deal will take place across 2025 and 2027.

Note that two launches have also already been booked with Rocket Lab, which are scheduled for launch this year, from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.

By launching as the dedicated payload on Electron, the company said, it controls the launch schedule and the precise deployment parameters for each satellite.

See also: Space companies combine for IoT platform with satellite SAR data