SWISSto12 and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation sign MoU, with 3D printing at the core of the partnership

SWISSto12 has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) to pursue joint opportunities in advanced payloads, radio frequency (RF) products, and market development in Japan and the APAC region. For manufacturing professionals watching additive manufacturing move from prototyping into flight-critical production, this is a deal worth noting: 3D printing is not a peripheral capability here — it is the technical foundation of the partnership.

Complementary capabilities

The partnership combines MELCO's satellite system expertise and integration capabilities with SWISSto12's proprietary 3D-printing designs and processes. Those additive processes underpin SWISSto12's next-generation payloads, and the track record is substantial: the company has more than 2,000 products in orbit, and market adoption of its HummingLink technology is growing.

The MoU does not arrive in isolation. Alongside it, MELCO has awarded SWISSto12 a contract to provide advanced phased array antenna products for the GEO secure communications program of the Japanese Government — a concrete program commitment that gives the agreement immediate commercial substance.

What the partners say

"We are proud to partner strategically with MELCO and support the next-generation sovereign communications system of Japan. Demand in APAC is growing for innovative, advanced payloads and RF products across sovereign land, sea, air, and space applications and we are confident that together, we can scale our ability to meet it."

— Emile de Rijk, Chief Executive Officer, SWISSto12

"SWISSto12's innovative technologies, including its 3D-printing-based component manufacturing technology and small geostationary satellite platform, hold tremendous potential. By combining these technologies with our expertise in the development and manufacturing of defense- and space-related systems, which we have cultivated over the years, we are confident that we can deliver unprecedented value to our customers."

— Masahiko Arai, Executive Officer and Group President, Defense & Space Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Backed by fresh capital

SWISSto12 enters the partnership with momentum. Earlier in 2026, the company raised $70m to scale its manufacturing and integration capacity — investment that positions it to actually deliver on the volume implied by a partnership of this scope. The stated ambition is to leverage the respective strengths of both companies to pursue new business opportunities in Japan and international markets, while delivering advanced and highly competitive defence and space solutions.

The takeaway for manufacturers: when a satellite systems integrator of MELCO's standing builds a strategic partnership around an additive manufacturing specialist's printing-based component technology, it signals that AM in the space sector has moved well past qualification. It is now a procurement rationale.