Louisville-based Sierra Space inked a deal with Kanematsu Corp. of Japan in an effort to open up its space programs to a more global market.

The companies are “opening up global access” to low-Earth orbit (LEO) with Sierra’s Dream Chaser spaceplane and LIFE habitats space station “allowing for new business opportunities in space,” according to a Wednesday news release.

The company recently broke off from Sierra Nevada Corp. to become its own entity. It has about 1,200 employees, 700 of which are in Colorado. The company is looking to hire more than 170 more in Colorado.

Kanematsu previously supported Sierra Space on multiple Japanese cooperative programs. The expanded agreement focuses on “the development of Commercial LEO Space Station partnerships in the Japanese space market.”

“LEO commercialization needs to be a global effort and Kanematsu is a key partner for Sierra Space. As an innovative leader at the intersection of aerospace, electronics, materials, technology, and manufacturing, Kanematsu shares Sierra Space’s vision for the new space economy,” said Tom Vice, CEO of Sierra Space, in a statement. “We are very pleased to enter into a new, expanded agreement with Kanematsu to foster international relationships and further deploy Sierra Space technology as well as leverage the impressive capabilities of Japanese industry for our commercial space station.

“Kanematsu brings a wealth of experience in the marketplace and we are proud to have them represent the commercial business of Sierra Space in Japan.”

Colorado and Japan are becoming fast partners when it comes to the race to space. Just last month Japan-based ispace Inc. announced a Denver location to join ispace’s operations in Luxembourg and Japan, developing robotic spacecraft technologies. At the 2021 Space Symposium in Colorado Springs last month, Denver-based ispace technologies USA unveiled the company’s “Series 2” lunar lander to carry bigger payloads, have the ability to land or orbit the moon, and survive a lunar night.

“We are very excited to have a strong relationship with Sierra Space, the world leader of commercial space industry especially on the free-flying commercial space station and Dream Chaser,” said Ryoichi Kidokoro, senior executive officer of Kanematsu’s Motor Vehicle & Aerospace Division. “Our commitment to contribute to the Japanese space industry as well as our heritage and experience in the space business of more than 20 years in Japan, will bring additional value to the Japanese customers and enables both Sierra Space and Kanematsu to become successful in the Japanese market.

“There are huge opportunities and potential collaborations in the free-flying commercial space station in Japan, with both heritage space and non-space companies.”

Here’s a link to Sierra Space’s video rendering of the project.