ANA Space Quarters investment in-orbit construction, Digi Mart USA News (Japan): ANA Holdings, the parent group of All Nippon Airways, has announced in a press release that it is taking a stake in Space Quarters, a Japanese startup working on space construction. ANA did not disclose the size of its investment.
The announcement coincided with news that Space Quarters had raised ¥910 million, approximately $5.7 million, from multiple venture capital investors in a pre-Series A round. According to the report, the startup had previously raised roughly the same amount.
ANA is one of several companies backing the company.
Space Quarters, a spin-off from Tohoku University, plans to use the funding to develop a system for building large structures in orbit. Rather than launching fully assembled structures, the company aims to send basic components into space in compact form aboard rockets, where robots would assemble them on site.
The technology is named DAIQ, in which multiple robots work together across every stage of construction, from grasping and positioning components to joining them. ANA said ground tests were successfully conducted in June 2026. It also said Space Quarters demonstrated component welding aboard an aircraft in simulated zero gravity in March, and tested the process under simulated lunar gravity.
The plans extend beyond Earth orbit, with operations on the Moon also under consideration. ANA sees significant potential in the approach as rocket launches have become more cost-effective recently, according to the report.
