Japanese Consortium Commits $100M Investment in Airbus Subsidiary AALTO

A consortium of Japanese businesses, spearheaded by NTT DOCOMO, Inc. and Space Compass Corporation, has pledged an investment of $100 million in AALTO HAPS Limited, a subsidiary of Airbus.

The investment, facilitated through the Japanese Consortium's investment vehicle, HAPS JAPAN Corporation, signals the commencement of a strategic partnership aimed at commercializing connectivity and earth observation services utilizing AALTO's technology.

The investment consortium, which includes prominent entities such as Mizuho Bank Limited and the Development Bank of Japan Inc., aims to leverage AALTO's stratospheric, solar-powered Zephyr High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) to revolutionize mobile connectivity and earth observation capabilities. Zephyr's ability to operate for extended periods in the stratosphere offers unprecedented opportunities for various applications, including mobile network expansion and high-capacity connectivity provision, particularly vital during Japan's response to natural calamities.

The alliance between the Japanese Consortium and AALTO is poised to propel the commercialization efforts of AALTO's services, with a focus on launching operations in Japan and achieving global entry-into-service by 2026. As a platform capable of accommodating diverse payloads, Zephyr holds potential to cater to a wide range of use cases, from delivering low latency 5G connectivity to facilitating monitoring, tracking, sensing, and detection applications through Airbus's earth observation service, Strat-Observer.

Space Compass, a joint venture between NTT and SKY Perfect JSAT, focuses on establishing a Space Integrated Computing Network.

While Airbus Defence and Space will retain majority ownership of AALTO, the investment is contingent upon meeting closing conditions and obtaining regulatory approvals. Concurrently, AALTO and Space Compass will enter into commercial agreements aimed at enhancing their presence and engagement in Japan and the wider Asian market.