NTT, NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS, Mitsubishi Electric, MUFG Bank, and the Development Bank of Japan announced on November 9, 2026 that they signed a memorandum of understanding on November 6 for comprehensive collaboration toward commercializing "mega-constellations," networks of many coordinated satellites. Besides communications, Earth observation, and positioning services, the study covers "space data centers" that process and store data on satellites. By combining communications networks linking space and the ground with in-orbit data processing, the companies aim to build a mechanism for using satellite data more efficiently.
Under the collaboration, the five companies will each contribute their expertise, from designing satellites and ground facilities and building communications networks, to developing customer services and providing financial support for commercialization. However, what has been agreed so far is only a framework for jointly examining technical and business feasibility. No decision has been made to build or operate facilities or to launch commercial services.
A Concept of Processing Data in Space and Sending Only the Results to Earth
In NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS's announcement, a space data center is defined as "a satellite with functions such as data processing, storage, and communications." As Earth observation satellites and similar systems become more capable, the volume of data acquired in space is growing. Rather than sending all acquired data to the ground, the concept envisions performing the necessary processing in space and transmitting only the results. This approach could reduce the amount of data transferred to the ground and make satellite data more efficient to use.
What matters in this concept is designing the location of data processing and the communications network together. For example, how much data is processed on the satellite changes the amount of data sent to the ground and the communication paths required. Decisions about a space data center's configuration will therefore also need to consider inter-satellite links and how the satellites connect to the ground. Note, however, that this is a potential benefit inferred from the announced technical concept, not the result of a demonstration showing how much communication volume would actually fall or how much processing speed would improve.
The five companies will examine how to coordinate satellite-to-satellite communications, satellite-to-ground communications, and terrestrial networks. They plan to combine technologies and services from partner companies in Japan and abroad, including IOWN, the next-generation communications infrastructure NTT is developing. They also say they aim for an open, interoperable system not tied to specific operators or technologies. However, the specific network configuration, connection specifications, and technologies to be adopted have not yet been disclosed and remain subjects for future study.
Five Companies Divide Roles From Satellite Design to Commercialization
The collaboration will look beyond technology development to firming up customer-facing services and preparing the business foundation. Mitsubishi Electric is responsible for system design and integration at the core of this effort. According to its announcement, the company will draw on technology developed through building and manufacturing satellites and ground facilities to study how satellites, ground stations, communications networks, and operations systems can work together. It aims for a system configuration that supports efficient construction and operation as well as future functional expansion.
In communications, NTT will use R&D results such as IOWN to examine the feasibility of an integrated space-ground communications network. NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS will draw on its experience in building and operating communications networks and providing services to corporate customers to define uses and services that meet customer needs. The two companies will also advance technical studies on how to coordinate communications between satellites, between satellites and the ground, and among terrestrial networks.
On the business side, MUFG Bank will use its domestic and international customer base and expertise as a financial institution to support building the business and manufacturing supply chain and expanding sales channels. The Development Bank of Japan will examine the feasibility of commercialization from a neutral, long-term perspective and explore cooperation with industry, government, universities, and financial institutions. This creates a structure for comprehensively studying everything from satellite system development to service delivery and business foundation building. The announcement, however, does not specify investment amounts or commit to any financing.
Anticipated uses include securing communications during disasters and in areas with limited connectivity, building communications and observation infrastructure, and providing positioning information. Improving the efficiency of satellite data use through space data centers is another. Combining satellite communications with information processing could create services unlike existing ones, but all of these remain at the study stage toward commercialization. Neither connectivity during disasters nor the timing of commercial service has been guaranteed or decided.
Challenges Remaining and Points to Verify Before Practical Use
What the announcement makes clear is the five-company collaboration structure and the technical and business areas to be studied. It provides no specific performance data for judging the concept's practicality, such as inter-satellite link performance, the processing capacity of space data centers, or efficiency differences compared with ground-based processing. How concrete the target system configurations and comparison conditions become will therefore be important for communications networks and in-space data processing.
Based on materials released by NTT DOCOMO BUSINESS and Mitsubishi Electric, the main areas of study and the information needed to evaluate their effects going forward are summarized below. The right-hand column consists of editorial evaluation items based on the published content. It is not a test plan or required specification formally announced by the five companies.
| Area of study | What the announcement says | Information to check going forward |
|---|---|---|
| Communications network | Study how to coordinate satellite-to-satellite, satellite-to-ground, and terrestrial networks | Target communication paths, network configuration, and conditions for comparing performance |
| Space data center | Study a mechanism to process satellite data in space and send the results to the ground | Type and scope of data processed, volume transferred to the ground, and results compared with conventional methods |
| System construction and operation | Study coordination among satellites, ground stations, communications networks, and operations systems | Specific system configuration, operating conditions, and methods for evaluating construction and operating efficiency |
The published materials are press releases announcing the start of collaborative study, and differ in nature from peer-reviewed papers or preprints reporting research results. The announcement texts and footnotes reviewed contain no information on the scale of tests using actual equipment, simulation conditions, measurement results, or third-party replication. Nor can the materials the five companies released about the same collaboration be regarded as independent technical demonstrations.
That said, the absence of performance data in these materials does not mean that tests or related research conducted by the companies in the past do not exist. What matters is under what conditions the technical and economic effects of this particular concept will be evaluated. For space data centers in particular, it will be necessary to clarify the type and scope of data processed on satellites and the amount of information sent to the ground, and to verify the effects of combining communications and data processing.
The memorandum is a first step for five companies from different fields (communications, satellite systems, service development, and finance) to cooperate on commercializing space infrastructure. The focus going forward is how far the space data center and communications network concepts can be made concrete, and whether their effectiveness can be confirmed through demonstrations. If evaluation advances to include not only communication and data processing efficiency but also construction and operating costs, the materials for judging the prospects for commercialization will begin to come together.