Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) satellite in orbit.

Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) satellite in orbit

 

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) is a Japanese multinational electronics and electrical equipment manufacturing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi.
Mitsubishi Electric manufactures electric and architectural equipment, as well as a major worldwide producer of photovoltaic panels. The Corporation was established on 15 January 1921.

Mitsubishi Electric (MELCO) satellite in orbit and MELCO’s Space Division has been a pioneer of space technology development in Japan since the 1960’s, and is strongly committed to international space development and satellite construction. The Space Division has participated in a wide range of high-performance payloads and bus components in multiple satellite programs worldwide and has integrated capabilities covering the entire satellite development process from development and design to assembly and testing. MELCO Space played a key role in dozens of satellite programs for a variety of government agencies and communications providers both domestic as well as international.

The history of MELCO is the history of the development of modern Japan. The company was founded in 1921, when Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. (now Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.) spun off a factory in Kobe, Japan that made electric motors for ocean-going vessels into a new company called Mitsubishi Electric Corporation.

An ambitious young man named Yataro Iwasaki launched the first Mitsubishi company, a shipping firm, in 1870. Japan had just emerged from centuries of feudal isolation and was racing to catch up with the West. Yataro’s business grew rapidly and diversified into a broad range of manufacturing and commerce. World War II brought an end to Mitsubishi as an integrated organization. But independent companies that trace their roots to the old Mitsubishi are active today in nearly every sector of industry.

Yataro Iwasaki was from the city of Kochi on the island of Shikoku, which was the home of the powerful Tosa clan. He worked for the clan and distinguished himself in managing its Osaka trading operations. In 1870, he set up his own shipping company, Tsukumo Shokai, with three steamships chartered from the clan. That was the beginning of Mitsubishi.

The name of the new company changed to Mitsukawa Shokai in 1872 and to Mitsubishi Shokai in 1874. Yataro chose a corporate emblem that combined the three oaks leaves of the Tosa crest and the three stacked diamonds of his family crest. That emblem is the source of the name, Mitsubishi, which means “three diamonds.”

MELCO has constructed satellites for Es’Hailsat, SKY Perfect JSAT, SingTel, Optus and Turksat satellite operators.