Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises $24M

As SpaceX counts down to what could beryllium the largest IPO successful history, the contention to physique the adjacent procreation of motorboat vehicles is heating up. Asia wants in. Startups crossed Australia, India, Japan, and South Korea are racing to found themselves successful a marketplace agelong dominated by the U.S. and China.

One of them is Unastella, a four-year-old South Korean startup that conscionable closed a $24 cardinal Series B, bringing its full backing to $44 million. The institution launched its ain rocket, the Una Express-I, from South Korean ungraded successful May 2025.

The Seoul-based rocket startup is processing its ain motorboat vehicles and engines, with an archetypal absorption connected tiny outer motorboat services. Unastella’s near-term absorption is validating its exertion and concern exemplary done orbital launches, with crewed suborbital spaceflight arsenic a longer-term goal, laminitis and CEO Jae Park told TechCrunch.

Unastella uses a kerosene and liquid oxygen propulsion system, 1 of the astir proven combinations successful rocket history, and 1 that is besides utilized by SpaceX’s Falcon series. On apical of that, the institution swapped retired the accepted turbo pump for an electric centrifugal pump, a simpler and cheaper alternate that Rocket Lab has already validated successful flight.

The tradeoff is payload. Electric centrifugal pumps are heavier, which means little country for satellites. But Park said that’s a deliberate decision.

“We’re not an R&D radical trying to physique the astir awesome rocket,” Park said. “We’re a commercialized motorboat institution trying to get to marketplace fast.”

Park besides notes that Unastella handles everything in-house, specified arsenic design, manufacturing, crushed operations, and formation data. The UNA EXPRESS-I motorboat past twelvemonth was the archetypal real-world trial of the full strategy end-to-end, Park said.

The CEO has spent his full vocation moving connected rocket engines. Before founding Unastella, Park worked connected combustion systems for Korea’s Nuri rocket — the country’s archetypal indigenously developed orbital motorboat vehicle, built by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). He past moved to the German Aerospace Center successful Berlin to enactment connected European motorboat conveyance engines, and returned to Korea to articulation different rocket startup earlier deciding to physique his own.

Unastella isn’t generating gross yet, but investors look to beryllium backing the startup’s roadmap. Altos Ventures led the Series B, joined by Korea Development Bank, Strong Ventures, and Hana Ventures, among others.

UNA EXPRESS-II, targeted for aboriginal this year, is the motorboat Park is truly gathering toward. Reaching 100 kilometers would people a important milestone, 1 helium believes volition unfastened the doorway to partnerships with South Korea’s large aerospace and defence firms.

The 22-person startup has already laid the instauration and developed organization relationships. Korea’s nationalist abstraction bureau has flown components connected UNA EXPRESS-I, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute has transferred electrical centrifugal pump exertion to the company.

Unastella is not unsocial successful the contention to pat into the planetary abstraction motorboat market, which was worthy astir $15 cardinal successful 2023. By 2030, it is projected to astir triple to $41 billion, according to Grand View Research.

South Korea’s commercialized motorboat assemblage is inactive successful its aboriginal stages, but the tract is already taking shape.

Hanwha Aerospace, the country’s largest defence conglomerate, took implicit the government-built Nuri rocket past twelvemonth aft acquiring afloat exertion rights from KARI. Two startups are besides competing: Innospace, which went nationalist connected the Korean banal speech and has conducted a sub-orbital launch, and Perigee Aerospace, which is processing its Blue Whale rocket. None person yet achieved a commercialized orbital launch. South Korea’s abstraction bureau KASA, established successful 2024, has committed $266 cardinal implicit 7 years to physique retired motorboat infrastructure — a motion that the authorities is betting connected the backstage assemblage to instrumentality the lead.

The contention extends good beyond Korea. In Asia, China leads the pack: Galactic Energy, LandSpace, and iSpace person each conducted aggregate launches. Japan’s H3 rocket, developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi, completed its archetypal palmy motorboat successful 2024, portion startup Interstellar Technologies is gathering its ain tiny vehicle. In Australia, Gilmour Space attempted its archetypal orbital motorboat this year. And past determination is Rocket Lab — founded successful New Zealand, present listed connected Nasdaq — which remains the lone Asian-founded institution to person built a commercially viable motorboat business.