Regarding Establishment of New Generation Small Rocket Development Planning Co., Ltd.

The four companies, Canon Electronics Inc. (hereafter, "Canon Electronics"), IHI AEROSPACE Co., Ltd. (hereafter, "IHI Aerospace"), Shimizu Corporation (hereafter "Shimizu"), and Development Bank of Japan, Inc. (hereafter, "DBJ"), hereby announce the establishment of New Generation Small Rocket Development Planning Co., Ltd. (hereafter, "the planning joint venture") to undertake the commercialization of a commercial space transport service aimed at capturing the anticipated growth in demand for launching small satellites in Japan and overseas.

The four companies decided to establish the planning joint venture because they saw the need to accelerate planning and verification of small satellite launching services to achieve rapid commercialization in a market that is expanding globally. The decision was based on the accelerating pace of change in the international market, trends among other competitors, and development of the business environment through government legislation^（*1）. The planning joint venture will take advantage of the shared knowledge and expertise of the four companies as it explores the various factors necessary for verifying the feasibility of commercialization, including development of a rocket capable of dedicated small satellite launches, reduction of the production cost, and the probability of capturing the demand for rocket launches.

The companies will collaborate on making the small rocket launching service targeted in this project a reality by sharing their specific knowledge and expertise. Canon Electronics will share its knowledge and expertise on mass production of consumer appliances at a lower cost; IHI Aerospace, the knowledge and expertise it has accumulated in rocket development and system integration; and Shimizu, its knowledge and expertise on the related information and various kinds of infrastructure required for space transport services, together with the aerospace-related consulting services provided by one of Shimizu's subsidiaries. DBJ will participate in the planning and verification of the service by sharing the knowledge and expertise on equity financing it has accumulated through many investment projects.

Because this project will contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of the Japanese aerospace industry by breaking into a new business through collaboration among different industries, the investment by DBJ in the planning joint venture will implemented as a specified investment business^(*2).

After the planning joint venture explores the commercial feasibility and sets a projected timetable for commercialization, we will transition to an operating company quickly, by the end of 2017 or thereafter.

An overview of the company is provided below: