What is it like to lead a space startup as a woman in Japan, a country that was 120th among 156 countries in the gender-gap rankings in 2021?

Ask Naomi Kurahara, co-founder and chief executive officer of Infostellar Inc., one of the trailblazing female CEOs in an industry still dominated by men.

"There are initial biases such as whether our company is mature enough to provide space-related services (because it is run by a woman), or if we are reliable as a company, but such doubts fade away as communication with the clients proceeds," said Kurahara, whose Tokyo-based startup established in 2016 provides a cloud-based interface for satellite operators.