Japan’s Ispace, which makes moon landers, has soared in its public market debut as investors bet on the startup’s prospects for supporting space development efforts.

Shares traded at ¥1,135 on Thursday in Tokyo, more than four times the ¥254 offering price. The stock was untraded Wednesday because of an imbalance between orders, though it was quoted at ¥585. Its market valuation reached almost $700 million.

The listing comes ahead of the arrival of the company’s first lunar lander, which was launched via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in December carrying two rovers and other payloads. The Hakuto-R Mission 1 lander, which lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida following multiple delays, is scheduled to touch down on the moon as early as this month.

The landing would make the Japanese startup, led by Takeshi Hakamada, the maker of the world’s first commercial spacecraft to land on the moon. Ispace plans to use a part of the proceeds to develop lunar landers and pay for launches that will be carried out by Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

"A successful landing will help more people see that lunar businesses have become a reality,” Hakamada said at a news conference. "The attention we’re getting from so many shareholders and investors makes me resolve anew to be steadfast and diligent in expanding our business.”

The escalating U.S.-China space rivalry and Musk’s ambitious Mars program have spurred startups around the world to chase new contracts for tapping resources on the lunar surface and further out in space. Much like Musk’s dream for a Martian colony, Ispace’s grand vision is to build a human settlement on the moon by 2040. Before that, it wants to become the lunar version of FedEx — earning money by ferrying scientific equipment and commercial goods to the moon.

The Mission 1 lander is part of a $73 million NASA contract won by a team led by Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Draper. The deal envisages end-to-end delivery services to the moon under the U.S. Artemis program.

Prior to the IPO, in August 2021, Ispace was valued at about ¥76 billion in a Series C equity financing. Led by Incubate Fund, the round brought in six other investors including SoftBank Group’s former Chief Strategy Officer Katsunori Sago.

The loss-making company sees a road to profitability around its third mission, scheduled for as early as 2025 with a projected tenfold increase in payload. The company said it expects net loss to narrow to ¥7.9 billion in the current fiscal year, from an expected ¥11.3 billion in the year ended in March, on a sixfold increase in sales.