ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter "ITOCHU") announced today that it has formed a capital and business alliance with Infostellar, Inc. (headquartered in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Naomi Kurahara, CEO; hereinafter "Infostellar"), a start-up offering satellite operators and ground station owners Ground Segment as a Service (GSaaS)^*1.

In recent years, the use of low-earth orbit satellites has been rapidly accelerating due to the growing need globally for satellite data and technical innovation causing a decrease in the cost of launching satellites. As low-earth orbit satellites go around the earth at high speed, it is necessary to install antennas at ground stations in appropriate areas according to the satellite's purpose of use, the securing of ground stations around the world is becoming increasingly important. However, installing a ground station requires a large infrastructure investment, which makes it difficult for a single company to cover all areas. This creates the growing need to build a global network of ground stations that meet the unique needs of individual satellite operators.

Infostellar is the GSaaS pioneer providing StellarStation, a cloud platform for satellite operators enabling them to create virtual networks that unify ground stations around the world. The flexible and scalable StellarStation enables satellite operators to reduce their workload and the operational costs of connecting ground stations, which will increase the number of satellite operators using ground station antennas and as a result increase the utility rates of ground stations.

Through this capital and business alliance with Infostellar, ITOCHU will utilize its accumulated knowledge in the space and satellite fields and the Group’s global network to expand satellite operators' use of StellarStation, acquire new ground station partners, and support the construction of ground stations. ITOCHU will strive to support the expansion of StellarStation services.