An endless passion for discovery

NEC's challenge into space has its roots in pioneering telecommunications business dating back to the 1950s. In 1956, NEC delivered a telemetry * transmitter and receiver to be mounted on the "Kappa (meaning the Greek letter K) rocket" named by Dr. Itokawa, who is famed for having asteroid "Itokawa" in his name, to the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo. This was the first NEC product to fly into space.

* Telemetry: A technology that performs various observations from a point far away from the target and acquires the data.

NEC’s challenge into space has several historical achievements. In 1964, Tokyo hosted the first Olympic Games in Asia whereby NEC contributed to the world’s first successful transmission of images of the competition to the world via communication satellites.
Another feat was in1970, the successful launch of Japan's first satellite "Osumi" delivered by NEC. For over a half century, NEC has developed and manufactured more than 80 satellites, supplying about 8,000 equipment to about 300 satellites worldwide. In 2014, the "Satellite Integration Center" was launched, establishing an in-house integrated production system for satellites.
In 2018, NEC launched its own satellite and established the “NEC Satellite Operation Center”. NEC now owns and operates two earth observation satellites and is engaged in space utilization business, such as sales of images taken from these satellites.

NEC aspires to create new value that enriches society in various fields, such as disaster prevention and mitigation, environmental monitoring, supporting agricultural and fishery, telecommunications, positioning, and scientific exploration.
For people, the earth and for a prosperous future.
NEC's space challenge continues into the next chapter.