--- title: Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law... description: Hokkaido University spinout Letara raised about ¥2.6bn ($16mn) in a pre-Series A round to build hybrid rocket engines fuelled by plastic, which are not legally... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive | daily.dev og:description: Hokkaido University spinout Letara raised about ¥2.6bn ($16mn) in a pre-Series A round to build hybrid rocket engines fuelled by plastic, which are not legally... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/kLDMAknvN.png og:image:alt: Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Hokkaido University spinout Letara raised about ¥2.6bn ($16mn) in a pre-Series A round to build hybrid rocket engines fuelled by plastic, which are not legally classified as explosives due to keeping solid fuel and liquid oxidiser separate. The round was co-led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund, with participation from Japanese banks, insurers, Toyoda Gosei, and venture arms of SMBC and Mitsubishi UFJ. Letara claims its fuel design and patented ignition system now match the performance of solid motors and liquid bipropellant systems, and has miniaturised engines to palm-sized units for small satellites while scaling toward launch vehicles. The company already has orders from manufacturers and the Japanese government, is a JAXA partner startup, and plans a firing test in orbit next. Germany's HyImpulse raised €45mn for similar hybrid propulsion technology last October, and competitors also include firms in China, South Korea, Singapore and Australia; the hybrid propulsion market was worth about $848mn in 2024, projected to reach $2.6bn by 2032. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How much funding did Letara raise for its hybrid rocket engines and who invested? Letara, a Hokkaido University spinout, raised approximately ¥2.6bn (about $16mn) in a pre-Series A round co-led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund. Participants included Japanese banks, insurers, the car parts group Toyoda Gosei, and venture arms of SMBC and Mitsubishi UFJ. _Track emerging funding rounds and startup activity in aerospace propulsion on daily.dev._ ### Why are hybrid rocket engines not classified as explosives under the law? Hybrid rocket engines keep solid fuel and liquid oxidiser stored separately rather than combined, so the propellant does not meet the legal definition of an explosive. This distinction changes how the fuel can be stored, shipped and handled, giving hybrid propulsion companies like Letara and HyImpulse a regulatory and logistics advantage over conventional solid or liquid rocket motors. _Follow how regulatory classifications shape propulsion technology choices via daily.dev._ ### How big is the hybrid rocket propulsion market projected to become? The hybrid propulsion market was worth about $848mn in 2024 and is projected to reach $2.6bn by 2032. That growth is spread across companies in Japan, Germany, China, South Korea, Singapore and Australia, roughly equating to one large satellite contract per year across those six countries. _Compare market sizing and competitor moves in space tech through daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Exploration Company raises $450m to build a rocket engine](https://daily.dev/posts/the-exploration-company-raises-450m-to-build-a-rocket-engine-b9dq7ox7r) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Rocket engine startup Impulse raises $500 million to hire people, not AI](https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-engine-startup-impulse-raises-500-million-to-hire-people-not-ai-zyeam9ydl) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Rocket Report: Engines installed for Artemis III; Long March 6C breakup in LEO](https://daily.dev/posts/rocket-report-engines-installed-for-artemis-iii-long-march-6c-breakup-in-leo-xvqjjfjeh) · Ars Technica · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Unastella, a South Korean rocket startup that launched from home, raises $24M](https://daily.dev/posts/unastella-a-south-korean-rocket-startup-that-launched-from-home-raises-24m-emxwc9706) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#venture-capital](https://daily.dev/tags/venture-capital), [#space-technology](https://daily.dev/tags/space-technology) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn"},"datePublished":"2026-08-22T10:55:00.642Z","dateModified":"2026-08-22T10:56:05.959Z","description":"Hokkaido University spinout Letara raised about ¥2.6bn ($16mn) in a pre-Series A round to build hybrid rocket engines fuelled by plastic, which are not legally...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/cafd4d1e06af0488d6fb50dd5345466d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/cafd4d1e06af0488d6fb50dd5345466d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"venture-capital,space-technology","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Letara raises ¥2.6bn for hybrid rocket engines the law does not call explosive"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/letara-raises-2-6bn-for-hybrid-rocket-engines-the-law-does-not-call-explosive-kldmaknvn#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How much funding did Letara raise for its hybrid rocket engines and who invested?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Letara, a Hokkaido University spinout, raised approximately ¥2.6bn (about $16mn) in a pre-Series A round co-led by Headline Asia, JIC Venture Growth Investments and Incubate Fund. Participants included Japanese banks, insurers, the car parts group Toyoda Gosei, and venture arms of SMBC and Mitsubishi UFJ. Track emerging funding rounds and startup activity in aerospace propulsion on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Why are hybrid rocket engines not classified as explosives under the law?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Hybrid rocket engines keep solid fuel and liquid oxidiser stored separately rather than combined, so the propellant does not meet the legal definition of an explosive. This distinction changes how the fuel can be stored, shipped and handled, giving hybrid propulsion companies like Letara and HyImpulse a regulatory and logistics advantage over conventional solid or liquid rocket motors. 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