Axiom Space has secured roughly an additional $175 million from investors, the startup has said, bringing its most recent fundraising round to more than $525 million as it works to develop a commercial space station.
Co-founded by billionaire Kam Ghaffarian, Axiom Space is among several firms competing to build a commercial replacement to the International Space Station, which is set to be decommissioned by 2030.
Texas-based Axiom Space is also working with fashion company Prada to develop spacesuits for NASA.
The funding round includes new backer MUFG Bank, Japan¡¯s largest bank, along with existing investors, according to the company. Axiom Space announced in February it had secured $350 million from investors including Type One Ventures and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr. is a partner.
The additional funding comes even as prospects for commercial space stations face greater uncertainty.
For years, NASA¡¯s plan had been to partially fund the development of as many as two commercial stations, but agency officials signaled in March that NASA wouldn¡¯t have enough money to fund more than one.
Earlier this month, the space agency said it¡¯s evaluating feedback from industry and reconsidering its future space station strategy.
Axiom Space, which also conducts private astronaut missions to the ISS, announced Tuesday that it will establish a subsidiary in Lucerne, Switzerland, to foster a closer relationship with the European Space Agency and its member states.?
A day earlier, rival Vast Space announced that it will establish a European headquarters in Paris and send French astronauts on two crewed missions to space.
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