HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 12, 2026--
Starlab Space LLC today announced that Mitsubishi Corporation has reserved and pre-purchased capacity on Starlab's commercial space station, becoming a foundational customer while simultaneously increasing their investment in the company and joining Starlab's Board of Directors through representative Issei Shinohara.
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The expanded partnership includes acquisition of usage rights for designated payload volume and utilization of on orbit laboratory facilities on Starlab, positioning Mitsubishi to accelerate space-based research opportunities for Japanese institutions. This customer commitment is accompanied by an expanded equity partnership that brings additional investment to support Starlab's development.
The collaboration addresses the critical transition in space research as the International Space Station approaches retirement. Since 2008, Japan has operated the ISS Japanese Experiment Module "Kibo," under the leadership of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Mitsubishi's long-standing relationship and legacy of supporting JAXA presents opportunities for future collaboration as Japan's space program transitions to commercial platforms.
"Mitsubishi Corporation's decision to reserve capacity on Starlab demonstrates the strong commercial demand for our next-generation platform," said Marshall Smith, CEO of Starlab. "Their commitment as a partner and customer validates our progress as we advance to full development and flight. Their decades of experience supporting Japan's space program, combined with their industrial expertise, makes them an invaluable partner as we work to complete our CDR that was conducted in December."
As a customer, Mitsubishi will support Japanese space development objectives while contributing to advancements in areas such as life sciences research, advanced materials development and next-generation manufacturing technologies that benefit from the unique space environment. The company’s research capacity will enable Japanese institutions to accelerate space-based research in drug discovery, nano-medicine applications, new material development and next-generation semiconductor manufacturing.
Starlab is the largest and most advanced commercial space station in development. To date, Starlab has achieved more than 27 development milestones and received $217.5 million from NASA through the Commercial LEO Destinations Phase 1 program and $15 million from the Texas Space Commission, plus backing from joint venture partners across the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada.
About Starlab
Starlab Space is a U.S.-led, global joint venture among Voyager Technologies (NYSE: VOYG), Airbus, Mitsubishi Corporation, MDA Space, Palantir Technologies and Space Applications Services, with strategic partners including Hilton, Journey, Northrop Grumman and The Ohio State University. Starlab is developing a next-generation, AI-enabled commercial space station, aiming to ensure continued human presence in low-Earth orbit and a seamless transition of microgravity science and research alongside the retirement of the International Space Station. Starlab's advanced, user-driven design and robust capabilities make it a premier platform for scientific discovery and technological advancement in space. For more information, visit starlab-space.com.
Mitsubishi Corporation joins Starlab as a major customer, expanding their current partnership to include reserved and pre-purchased payload capacity on Starlab's commercial space station. Image: Starlab space station in space with Earth in the background.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday ordered the release of 250 political prisoners as part of a deal with Washington that lifted some U.S. sanctions, the latest step in the isolated leader’s effort to improve ties with the West.
Lukashenko pardoned the prisoners after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Belarus, John Coale, in the Belarus capital of Minsk. Coale hailed the release as a “significant humanitarian milestone” and a testament to Trump’s “commitment to direct, hard-nosed diplomacy.” It marked the largest one-time release of political prisoners in the country.
Coale told reporters that the U.S. will lift sanctions from two Belarusian state banks and the country's Finance Ministry, and that the top Belarusian potash producers have been removed from a sanctions list.
Belarus' opposition leader-in-exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, hailed the prisoners' release as “a moment of great relief and hope.”
“After years of isolation, people are now free and can finally embrace their loved ones,” Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press. “There is nothing more powerful than seeing someone who endured unjust imprisonment reunited with their family.”
She thanked Trump and his officials for their "tireless efforts to secure the release of political prisoners," adding that “these humanitarian efforts are saving lives.”
The last time U.S. officials met with Lukashenko, in December, Washington announced the easing of sanctions on Belarus' potash sector, a key source of export revenue, and 123 prisoners were released and sent to Ukraine and Lithuania.
A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced isolation for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western countries — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Lukashenko’s rule was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when tens of thousands poured into the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. They were the largest demonstrations since Belarus became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures either fled the country or were imprisoned.
Five years after the mass demonstrations, Lukashenko won a seventh term last year in an election that the opposition called a farce.
More recently, Belarus has freed some political prisoners to try to win favor with the West. Since Trump returned to the White House last year, Lukashenko has released dozens of prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski and key dissident figures Siarhei Tsikhanouski, Viktar Babaryka and Maria Kolesnikova.
Trump spoke to Lukashenko by phone in August 2025 after one such release and even suggested a face-to-face meeting in what would be a big victory for the Belarusian leader, who has been dubbed “Europe’s Last Dictator.”
Dzianis Kuchynski, an adviser to Tsikhanouskaya, said that 15 of the 250 prisoners arrived in Lithuania following their release.
They included Valiantsin Stefanovich and Marfa Rabkova of the prominent Belarus human rights group Viasna. Stefanovich was serving a nine-year sentence on charges of smuggling money to finance activities violating the public order after his arrest in 2023. Rabkova was sentenced to 14 years and nine months following her 2020 arrest and conviction on charges of organizing riots and inciting hatred, accusations widely seen as a punishment for documenting human rights abuses.
Nasta Loika, 37, an activist with the international rights group Human Constanta, was also released. She was sentenced to seven years in prison after her arrest in 2022 on charges of organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred - charges widely seen as retaliation for her activism.
Also freed was Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 32, who also goes by the last name of Andreyeva, a journalist of the Polish-funded Belsat TV channel who was arrested in 2020 while covering mass anti-government protests in Minsk. She was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on convictions for violating public order and treason.
Eduard Palchys, a 35-year-old opposition blogger, was also among those pardoned by Lukashenko. He was convicted of causing harm to Belarus’ national security and organizing mass unrest over his role in coordinating the demonstrations in 2020. and sentenced to 13 years in prison.
Like previously released prisoners, they were all sent to Lithuania without passports or other identity papers. Kuchynski denounced it as a “mockery” by Belarusian authorities seeking to make the lives of the released prisoners more abroad more difficult.
Just before the latest announcement of releases, the Viasna group had estimated that there were more than 1,100 political prisoners in the country.
Tsikhanouskaya emphasized that “many people are still behind bars” and "our goal remains unchanged — to free them all and to put a final end to repression, so that every Belarusian can live freely in their own country.”
In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S. Presidential envoy John Coale, second right, talk during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
In this photo released by Belarusian presidential press service, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, right, and U.S. Presidential envoy John Coale talk during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, March 19, 2026. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
