Bolstering Collaboration for the Commencement of Offshore Rocket Launch and Recovery Operation

MOL PLUS announced that it has made an additional investment in Innovative Space Carrier , which develops, manufactures, and launches reusable rockets.

ISC is a startup striving to increase the frequency and reduce the cost of space transport through the development of reusable rockets, guided by the vision: “A world where people and cargo circle the globe every day, democratizing point-to-point space travel and delivering the future.”

In FY2024, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) Group began jointly exploring the offshore rocket launch and recovery business, leveraging the expertise and safe operation technologies it has cultivated in the ocean shipping and maritime businesses, and MOL PLUS made its initial investment in ISC in the same year. In April 2026, MOL and ISC jointly obtained Approval in Principle (AiP) for the basic design of an unmanned, autonomous offshore rocket recovery vessel (Note 3), and the two companies are advancing studies toward the practical application of the vessel. MOL Group and ISC intend to conduct demonstration tests in the 2030s, and the additional investment was made to further bolster collaboration in the studies needed to achieve practical application of offshore launch and recovery operations.

MOL PLUS continually works to generate synergetic effects based on startup companies’ innovative ideas and technologies and MOL Group’s resources, aiming to create new businesses PLUS new value to the ocean shipping industry and society.