Mitsubishi Electric puts $10 million into Array Labs to commercialise orbital aircraft tracking in Asia-Pacific

On 24 July 2026, Mitsubishi Electric invested US$ 10 million in Silicon Valley radar startup Array Labs, anchoring a US$ 21 million oversubscribed strategic round^[1]. The two companies simultaneously signed a partnership to develop and commercialise satellite-based aircraft and maritime tracking services for defence and security customers across the Asia-Pacific region^[1].

What Array Labs is building

Array Labs, founded in 2019, is developing a constellation of formation-flying radar satellites that operate cooperatively, with transmitters and receivers distributed across multiple spacecraft^[1]. The core technology is airborne moving target indication (AMTI) - a capability that detects and tracks moving aircraft continuously from low Earth orbit, rather than capturing the static snapshots produced by conventional optical or synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites^[1].

AMTI enables detection and tracking over a wide airspace, independent of radar installation locations, terrain, or detection-range limitations, and is already being used in national security and civil air traffic management applications. Array Labs says its distributed architecture can extend coverage beyond the horizon and terrain constraints that limit ground-based radar^[1].

The company's three current business lines are:

• Standalone radar payloads
• Complete satellite systems and clusters
• 3D imagery and analytics^[1]

Its radar instruments are designed for mass production using techniques drawn from telecommunications and consumer electronics, rather than the bespoke manufacturing model common in traditional space radar^[1].

Mitsubishi Electric's strategic rationale

Mitsubishi Electric is one of Japan's largest defence and aerospace contractors, supplying advanced electronics, radar, and satellite systems to the Japanese Ministry of Defense for over half a century. In February 2026, it was awarded a contract to develop and manufacture Japan's next-generation defence satellite system.

The Array Labs deal adds a new sensing modality - space-based moving-target tracking - to that existing portfolio. Mitsubishi Electric plans to integrate its satellite system development and manufacturing technologies with Array Labs' AMTI technology and 3D terrain imaging data, with the goal of commercialising information services that identify the locations of airborne moving targets while expanding the use of space in national security.

Funding history and launch schedule

The US$ 21 million strategic round follows a US$ 20 million Series A that Array Labs closed in January 2026^[1]. Continuing investors in the new round include Catapult Ventures, KOMPAS VC, and Y Combinator^[1]. Prior to this financing, the company had secured R&D contracts with DARPA, the US Navy, and the US Air Force^[1].

On the hardware side, Array Labs has completed airborne flight tests and is targeting a staged constellation demonstration^[1]:

• Single-satellite launch: April 2027
• Two hosted radar-payload launches: mid-2027
• Four-satellite cluster launch: October 2027^[1]

The full multi-satellite demonstration is planned to conclude in 2028^[1].

The near-term test is whether Array Labs can translate government R&D contracts and strategic capital into an operational LEO service before better-funded competitors close the AMTI gap. Mitsubishi Electric's manufacturing depth and its established routes into Japanese and broader Asia-Pacific procurement give the startup a more direct path to paying customers than most defence-space ventures at this stage - but the constellation still has to reach orbit on schedule.