Japanese Air Force Awards LeoLabs Multimillion-Dollar Contract for Situational Awareness Software 

A still image of LeoLabs 3D visualization of the OneWeb constellation. Photo: LeoLabs

LeoLabs’ space situational awareness software will support the Japan Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) under a new multimillion-dollar contract announced Tuesday. 

JASDF will use LeoLabs data and services platform which includes tracking and monitoring, collision avoidance, and other services. LeoLabs will provide access to these services and associated training to augment the space domain awareness capabilities at the Japan Ministry of Defense. Japan’s Ministry of Defense awarded the contract through Itochu Aviation Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Itochu Corporation. 

“The single greatest challenge to addressing both the sustainability and security threats in LEO is solving the data deficit. This is true for Japan, and for all space-faring nations,” LeoLabs CEO Dan Ceperley said. “Our LeoLabs commercially driven infrastructure is the only viable and scalable way to address this data deficit, and that’s what the JASDF will be able to leverage under our new contract.”

LeoLabs has a network of six radars that track satellites and orbital debris. Large constellations including SpaceX Starlink, OneWeb, and Planet use the platform to track their fleets.