The Engineering Test Satellite 9 (ETS-9) is a JAXA project aimed to develop an
advanced satellite bus, or common model, for various high-throughput satellites (HTS) for communications.

The new satellite bus by Mitsubishi Electric will focus specifically on advanced communication needs:
- Up to 25kW of power to support HTS communications
- Light mass, all-electric bus system achieved with 6kW high-power Hall thrusters (Japan-made).
- High-power Hall thrusters significantly shorten delivery of orbiting satellite compared to other manufacturer’s 4.5kW-class electric-propulsion bus systems
- The first Japanese geostationary satellite equipped with GPS receivers (Japan-made) for laborsaving autonomous orbital transfer and orbital maneuvering.