Letara
Rocket engines that burn plastic
Letara operates in the propulsion sector of the space industry, is headquartered in Japan, was founded in 2020, is at Seed stage.
Letara at a glance
| Status | Activechecked September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Sector | Propulsion |
| Headquarters | Japan |
| Founded | 2020 |
| Stage | Seed |
| Website | letaranext.com |
Record last updated September 2026 · how we verify · spotted something outdated? Tell us.
Timeline & funding
- August 2026Funding
- August 2026FundingPre-Series A: JPY 2.6B (about $16M)↗Led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund, with NES, Toyoda Gosei and Frontier Innovations
- 2021Company
Mission
Sapporo startup from Hokkaido University building hybrid engines that burn plastic fuel with a liquid oxidiser, for satellite thrusters first and rockets later.
Letara's engines burn plastic. A hybrid motor keeps the fuel solid, here a plastic or rubber, and stores the oxidiser as a liquid, so nothing can detonate in storage and the propellants cost little. The company's own contribution is the ignition and throttling that make such a motor controllable, which is what has kept hybrids out of serious use. The first products are thrusters for small satellites, with larger engines for launch vehicles and defence to follow.
Shota Hirai and Landon Kamps met in Hokkaido University's space systems laboratory, where the research began, founded the company in Sapporo in June 2020 and run it as co-chief executives. In August 2026 it raised ¥2.6 billion, about $16 million, led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund, with Toyoda Gosei, NES and the JAXA-backed Frontier Innovations as strategic investors.
Nothing of Letara's has fired in orbit. The next step the company names is an in-orbit firing test with an overseas partner, and until then the record is prizes and ground tests.
Team
- Shota Hirai · Co-founder & Co-CEO
- Landon Kamps · Co-founder & Co-CEO
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