As SpaceX counts down to what could be its biggest IPO in history, the race to build the next generation of launch vehicles is heating up. Asia wants to participate. Startups from Australia, India, Japan and South Korea are competing to establish themselves in a market long dominated by the United States and China.
One of them, Unastella, a four-year-old Korean startup, just completed a $24 million Series B, bringing its total funding to $44 million. The company launched its own rocket “UNA EXPRESS-I” from mainland South Korea in May 2025.
The Seoul-based rocket startup is developing its own launch vehicle and engine, initially focusing on small satellite launch services. Unastella’s near-term focus is on validating its technology and business model through orbital launches, with the long-term goal of human suborbital spaceflight, founder and CEO Jay Park told TechCrunch.
Unastera uses a kerosene and liquid oxygen propulsion system. This is one of the most proven combinations in rocket history and is also used in SpaceX’s Falcon series. In addition to that, the company replaced the traditional turbo pump with an electric motor pump. Electric motor pumps are a simpler and cheaper alternative that Rocket Lab has already tested in flight.
The tradeoff is payload. Electric motor pumps are heavy and require less space to install satellites. But Park said it was a deliberate decision.
“We’re not an R&D group trying to build the best rocket,” Park said. “We are a commercial launch company and we are trying to get to market quickly.”
Park also said that Unastella handles everything in-house, including design, manufacturing, ground operations, and flight data. Last year’s launch of UNA EXPRESS-I was the first real-world test of the entire system end-to-end, Park said.
The CEO has spent his entire career developing rocket engines. Before founding Unastera, Park worked on the combustion system for South Korea’s Nuri rocket, South Korea’s first domestically developed orbital launch vehicle, manufactured by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). He then moved to the German Aerospace Center in Berlin, where he worked on the development of European launch rocket engines, and after returning to South Korea and joining another rocket startup, he decided to build rockets himself.
Although Unastella is not yet profitable, investors appear to be supportive of the startup’s roadmap. Altos Ventures led the Series B, with participation from Korea Industrial Bank, Strong Ventures, hana Ventures, and others.
UNA EXPRESS-II, which is targeted for next year, is a launch that the park is actually developing. He believes that reaching 100 kilometers would be an important milestone and open the door to partnerships with major Korean aerospace and defense companies.
The 22-person startup has already laid the groundwork and established organizational relationships. South Korea’s National Space Agency is flying components on UNA EXPRESS-I, and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute has transferred electric motor pump technology to the company.
Unastela is not alone in the race to enter the global space launch market, which will be worth about $15 billion in 2023, according to Grand View Research. By 2030, that market is expected to nearly triple to $41 billion, according to Grand View Research.
Although South Korea’s commercial launch sector is still in its infancy, the field is already taking shape.
Hanwha Aerospace, the country’s largest defense conglomerate, took over the government-built Nuri rocket last year after acquiring full technology rights from KARI. Two startups are also competing: Innospace, which is listed on the Korea Stock Exchange and has conducted suborbital launches, and Perigee Aerospace, which is developing a blue whale rocket. No one has yet successfully launched into commercial orbit. South Korea’s space agency KASA, founded in 2024, is spending $266 million over seven years to build launch infrastructure, a sign the government is betting the private sector will take the lead.
The competition extends beyond South Korea. In Asia, China is leading the way, with Galaxy Energy, Landspace, and iSpace all conducting multiple launches. Japan’s H3 rocket, developed by JAXA and Mitsubishi, will make its first successful launch in 2024, and startup Interstellar Technologies is building its own small rocket. In Australia, Gilmore Space attempted its first orbital launch this year. And Rocket Lab, founded in New Zealand and now listed on Nasdaq, remains the only company founded in Asia to have built a commercially viable launch business.
This article has been updated to reflect that UNA EXPRESS-II is targeted for launch next year, rather than later this year as originally reported.
If you buy through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect editorial independence.
Source link
