ispace and KDDI announced a new memorandum of understanding on November 12, 2026, expanding their work on lunar communications networks and services. The agreement connects ispace’s planned lunar satellite services with KDDI’s ground-station and telecommunications work.
The companies intend to develop communications spanning the lunar surface, the region between Earth and the Moon, and terrestrial stations. ispace’s first lunar orbiting satellite is planned as Mission 2.5, with launch no earlier than 2027. KDDI brings experience from its Yamaguchi Satellite Earth Station, which opened in 1969.
The practical arrangement includes several separate links. Surface communications connect equipment operating near one another on the Moon. An orbiting relay can carry information between a surface user and Earth. A ground station receives the signal and connects the space portion of the system with terrestrial networks and mission operators.
ispace set out the commercial satellite component in its March 27 service announcement. Lunar Connect Service is intended to combine communications and positioning with observation and space situational awareness. The company described plans to deploy at least five lunar orbiting satellites by 2030.
Positioning services concern determining where a spacecraft or surface user is located. Observation services collect information about the Moon or surrounding space. Space situational awareness concerns tracking and understanding objects and activity in that environment. Placing these functions alongside communications makes the proposed satellite business a service offering for other mission operators.
The March announcement also identified an agreement with KDDI to examine ground-station operation and use. Earth-based reception is part of the service architecture because lunar data eventually has to reach the organizations using it. A relay in lunar orbit and a station on Earth perform different portions of that task.
The collaboration builds on a May 2025 research agreement under Japan’s Space Strategy Fund. KDDI had been selected in November 2024 to lead feasibility studies for a high-capacity Moon–Earth communications system. ispace was assigned to help establish mission requirements and technical constraints for lunar mobile communications.
That earlier work covered the timing and location of missions, their use cases, and the communications functions they would require. ispace’s role drew on its experience operating spacecraft in the lunar environment. The research supplied mission-side information for KDDI’s technical evaluations.
The November agreement extends that relationship toward network and service development. KDDI’s own announcement describes work involving ground stations, mobile communications on the lunar surface, and optical communications in space. Optical links transmit information using light, adding another transmission method to the radio systems commonly used for spacecraft communications.
The proposed services also connect to ispace’s transportation activity. The company’s ULTRA lander program is under development for Mission 3, currently planned for 2028, with the same design intended for later missions. Landers deliver equipment to the surface; communications services carry commands and return information after that equipment arrives.
The companies’ next work under the new memorandum concerns the technical development and demonstrations associated with the planned communications network. Mission 2.5 is the announced initial orbital deployment in ispace’s service plan.
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