Pale Blue will establish a new development base for production technologies in Tsukuba City in Ibaraki Prefecture aiming for business expansion of water-based propulsion systems towards the company’s vision of creating mobility capabilities that are core to the space industry. Pale Blue has also been awarded the Ibaraki Prefecture Corporate Location Promotion Subsidy, expected to be around USD 1M (JPY 150M), and the company will strengthen collaboration with the Ibaraki Prefecture.

Background

Following the recent advent of small satellites that can be developed both at a lower cost and in a shorter lead time, an increasing number of companies worldwide have entered their businesses into the space industry, which leads to a rapid expansion in commercial applications. The growth driver is satellite constellations, in which a group of small satellites are launched and work together as a system to provide services such as communication and earth observation. To operate a satellite constellation, it is necessary to coordinate the positioning of multiple satellites in space and it is also important to take measures to mitigate space debris. The propulsion systems Pale Blue has developed are keys to satellite constellations. Pale Blue has decided to set up a new development base for production technologies in Tsukuba, Ibaraki for business expansion of water-based propulsion systems, where the number of inquiries from national and international satellite operators have increased considerably since the successful in-orbit operation of its water-based propulsion systems in March 2023.