JAOPS raises 260 million yen in seed round for space mission operations service

Japanese space operations company JAOPS has raised 260 million yen (approximately $1.7 million) in a seed round from UntroD Capital and Midtown Frontier Fund to advance its "Operations as a Service" model for space missions. The funding will support construction of JAOPS's first Mission Control Center and development of tools and simulators to expand its operations services globally. The company already serves clients in Japan, Spain, France, the UK, South Korea, and the US. JAOPS has previously received support from JAXA's Space Strategy Fund and a Tokyo metropolitan government grant. The company aims to help space operators achieve reliable mission operations without building their own full operational infrastructure.