Space & Satellite Economy
10 companies
Japan's Space Strategy Fund is the structural catalyst: a ¥1 trillion, 10-year JAXA-managed programme (cabinet-approved 2023) averaging ¥100B/year — about 65% of JAXA's 2025 budget. Over 140 projects are being funded across satellites, transportation, and exploration (JAXA SSF overview 2024-2025). Four space pure-plays have listed on the TSE Growth market since 2023 (ispace, Astroscale, Synspective, QPS) with Axelspace adding in Aug 2025. The Japan Ministry of Defense Satellite Constellation Project — a PFI signed Feb 2026 between the MOD and TriSat SPC (Mitsubishi Electric + SKY Perfect JSAT + Mitsui) — runs through Mar 31 2031 with a total value of ¥105.6B and anchors Synspective + Axelspace as SAR/EO subcontractors. Combined with NASA's CLPS programme (providing ispace's Mission 3 pipeline) and ESA/UK Space Agency ARTES contracts (Astroscale ELSA-M, ~€14M), Japan's listed space economy has structural demand visibility into late-2020s. The theme is high-variance but structurally funded — losses fund a decade-long infrastructure build, not discretionary R&D.
Recent Updates
Initial coverage — 6 stocks across SAR, lunar, debris removal, optical EO, and prime systems
Updated: 290A.T, 464A.T, 6701.T, 186A.T, 9348.T, 402A.T
Added 2 stocks: Mitsubishi Electric (6503.T) — TriSat SPC prime + Japan satellite bus monopoly; IHI (7013.T) — H3 rocket propulsion, LOW conviction with AP01 flag. Rebalanced existing weights.
Updated: 6503.T, 7013.T
SpaceX IPO catalyst DD — fired via new research_catalyst.sh workflow. T-Glass backward trace from SpaceX IPO end-products (Falcon launches, Starship, Starlink). 2 new JP names added: Toray 3402 (HIGH — only CONFIRMED upstream supplier per Nikkei 2016, $2-3B carbon fiber deal) and KDDI 9433 (MEDIUM — downstream Starlink customer, au Starlink Direct first JP D2C service April 2025). All 8 existing space stocks (Synspective, QPS, ispace, Astroscale, Axelspace, NEC, MELCO, IHI) flagged HALO ONLY — they serve JAXA/Japan Space Strategy Fund, not SpaceX. AP03 concept-stock risk on the halo names if bid as SpaceX-supply-chain plays. Trade construct: cheap CONFIRMED exposure via Toray + KDDI (Fwd PE 13-17x, modest 52w returns) vs expensive HALO exposure via small-cap JP satellite makers.
Updated: 290A.T, 464A.T, 6701.T, 186A.T, 9348.T, 402A.T, 6503.T, 7013.T
Supply Chain Map
Drag nodes to rearrange. Hover to highlight connections. Click tracked companies to view details. Arrows show supplier → customer direction.
Peer Comparison
| Company | Ticker | Conv | PE | Fwd PE | P/B | ROE | Op Margin | D/E | Yield | FCF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Synspective | 290A.T | HIGH | N/M | N/M | 4.73 | -1.0% | -174.1% | 27.3% | 0.0% | -¥10.0B |
| QPS Holdings (iQPS) | 464A.T | HIGH | N/M | 254.6 | 8.47 | -1.7% | -90.0% | 54.9% | 0.0% | N/A |
| NEC Corporation | 6701.T | MEDIUM | 23.5 | 19.6 | 2.68 | 8.8% | 7.6% | 90.9% | 0.75% | +¥202B |
| Astroscale Holdings | 186A.T | MEDIUM | N/M | N/M | 18.03 | -64.2% | -161.7% | 213.9% | 0.0% | -¥15.3B |
| ispace, inc. | 9348.T | LOW | N/M | N/M | 4.24 | -49.4% | -253.3% | 201.7% | 0.0% | N/A |
| Axelspace Holdings | 402A.T | LOW | N/M | N/M | 6.21 | -61.4% | -342.5% | 106.4% | 0.0% | N/A |
| Mitsubishi Electric Corporation | 6503.T | MEDIUM | 31 | 30.6 | 2.89 | 9.85% | 9.6% (Defense & Space segment) | 8.0% | 0.92% | +¥316.8B |
| IHI Corporation | 7013.T | LOW | N/M | 25.7 | 7.84 | 26.76% | ~8.8% (company-wide FY2024: OP ¥143.5B / Rev ¥1,626.8B) | N/A | 0.65% | +¥42.5B |
| Toray Industries | 3402.T | HIGH | 22 | 17.3 | N/A | — | N/A | N/A | 2.23% | N/A |
| KDDI Corporation | 9433.T | MEDIUM | 14.4 | 12.9 | N/A | — | N/A | N/A | 3.31% | N/A |
Companies
Synspective
290A.THIGHCore
Anchor MOD contract (¥105.6B through 2031 via TriSat SPC with Mitsubishi Electric, SKY Perfect JSAT, Mitsui) de-risks the StriX SAR constellation. Cas...
QPS Holdings (iQPS)
464A.THIGHCore
Only Japan space pure-play with company-guided FY2026 profit: revenue ¥4.0B (+148% YoY), net income ¥500M, EPS ¥10.33 (filing 2026-04-13). SAR constel...
NEC Corporation
6701.TMEDIUMAnchor
Diversified ¥5.7T market cap IT + defence + space prime. FY2025 revenue ¥3.42T, earnings ¥175B (+17% YoY). Space legacy: ASNARO optical earth-obs line...
Astroscale Holdings
186A.TMEDIUMSatellite
First-mover globally in on-orbit servicing. JAXA CRD2 Phase II ¥13.2B contract (active debris removal demonstration) + ELSA-M commercial OneWeb deorbi...
ispace, inc.
9348.TLOWTactical
Japan-listed lunar-lander pure-play. Mission 2 RESILIENCE reached lunar orbit 2025. Mission 3 (APEX 1.0 lander) targets far-side Schrödinger Basin 202...
Axelspace Holdings
402A.TLOWTactical
Optical earth-observation microsatellite pure-play; 5-sat GRUS-1 constellation operating, 7-sat GRUS-3 launch planned 2026 (2.2m panchromatic GSD). Sm...
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
6503.TMEDIUMAnchor
Japan's primary satellite bus manufacturer (~60-70% of JAXA government missions including ASNARO, ETS-9, ALOS, meteorological series). TriSat SPC PRIM...
IHI Corporation
7013.TLOWTactical
Japan's sole manufacturer of H3 rocket turbopumps (LE-9 first stage + LE-5B-3 second stage) and SRB-3 solid rocket boosters — structurally irreplaceab...
Toray Industries
3402.THIGHMaterials / Carbon Fiber (upstream supplier)
The ONLY Japanese-listed company with a publicly confirmed direct SpaceX supply relationship. Per Nikkei Asia (2016-08-17), Toray agreed to supply car...
KDDI Corporation
9433.TMEDIUMDownstream / Starlink Customer (au Starlink Direct)
First Japanese telco to deploy a direct-to-cell satellite service using SpaceX Starlink — 'au Starlink Direct' launched April 2025, covering all of Ja...