Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile form Japan direct-to-device satellite venture

Rakuten and AST SpaceMobile have formed a joint venture to build a direct-to-device network in Japan using low-Earth orbit satellites, with grants of around US$1 billion from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). Rakuten announced the venture in a press release on Monday 9 November 2026. The service will run over AST's Bluebird constellation using midband spectrum, with a start date of March 2029 according to Light Reading. SDxCentral described the timing as early 2029.

SDxCentral reported that the two firms won an MIC tender to form Rakuten AST under the Japan Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications Project, known as J-LEO. The money is meant to support a Japanese-flagged mid-band constellation. Rakuten AST also plans to offer the same services to AST's global customers. Rakuten said the service is aimed at strengthening disaster and emergency communications in Japan.

Rakuten's relationship with AST dates to 2020, when the companies signed a commercial agreement and Rakuten joined Vodafone as a lead investor in what was then AST & Science, bringing its total capital to $128 million, SDxCentral reported. Rakuten remains the only major Japanese operator working with AST, while KDDI, SoftBank and NTT DoCoMo have favoured SpaceX for direct-to-device. AST says it has more than 60 operator partners worldwide, including AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone and Bell Canada.

Rakuten Mobile will also work with AST on AI edge computing in orbit and on AI-driven spectrum management. Rakuten said the research will look at faster data communications and industry-specific IoT offerings for logistics, infrastructure monitoring and construction. Ramon Space chief product officer David Anderson told SDxCentral that IoT is a leading use case for space-based compute. Anderson said edge computing is "a great way to solve the communication bottleneck".

AST's constellation is still small, with 13 satellites in orbit, including one test satellite and five first-generation satellites that can deliver peak data rates of 100 Mbit/s. The second-generation Block 2 craft will have double the throughput, and AST is aiming for at least 45-60 satellites to cover key markets. Launch capacity is a constraint: AST says it has agreements to deploy more than 100 satellites, yet it has announced it is developing its own 20-ton Blacklift rocket, with a first commercial launch expected in late 2028.

Starlink uses far smaller satellites at lower orbits and has around 12,000 craft in orbit, Light Reading noted. SpaceX aims to add direct-to-cell capability with next-generation V2 satellites, which the FCC has approved, with the first launches expected in 2027. Separately on the same day, NTT, NTT DoCoMo Business, the Development Bank of Japan, MUFG and Mitsubishi Electric signed an MoU to examine the feasibility of a satellite mega-constellation.