Satellite communications company OneWeb’s commercial ambitions were boosted by Japanese operator SoftBank Corp, which teamed to develop the service provider’s presence in its domestic market and beyond.

The companies partnered on technical and product development of OneWeb’s service, planning to jointly secure regulatory approvals and establish ground stations in Japan.

In a statement, the companies explained they will offer a combination of OneWeb and SoftBank services to provide “advanced seamless connectivity” along with a digital transformation platform.

The operator’s parent SoftBank Group increased its investment in OneWeb in January, as the satellite company continues to accrue fresh backing after a consortium comprising the UK government and a division of Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises pulled it out of bankruptcy protection in mid-2020.

Last month, Eutelsat joined the list of OneWeb backers with a $550 million investment, boosting the operator’s move to deploy an initial constellation of 648 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites.