Axelspace Chooses SKY Perfect JSAT’s Ground Station Service

JSAT’s Shinji Takada, Axelspace’s Yuya Nakamura, KSAT’s Rolf Skatteboe (left to right). Photo: SKY Perfect JSAT

Axelspace selected the SKY Perfect JSAT and Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) joint ground station service for its GRUS satellite, a commercial Japanese optical Earth observation satellite. The launch of the GRUS-1 satellite is scheduled for Dec. 27, and is the first satellite of a future constellation for the AxelGlobe project.

GRUS is a next-generation remote sensing microsatellite, the building block of Axelspace’s Earth observation Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation. Even with its mass of less than 100 kilograms, it aims to obtain images with 2.5 meter ground resolution. When the full constellation is in place, Axelspace will be able to update the imagery of the Earth every day, making the satellite data easily accessible through the AxelGlobe platform. Axelspace will start commercial service for the imageries and its analysis data in 2019.

KSAT will in partnership provide ground station services for the GRUS satellite by using SKY Perfect JSAT’s owned and operated ground station at the Ibaraki Network Control Center. This is the first joint ground service contract award for the partners, cooperating under a Strategic Alliance Agreement for LEO ground station service concluded in 2016. SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT will support this satellite program with KSATLite, a global ground network as a service, optimized for small satellites and big constellations. The KSATLite global network is fully operational and live today, and by leveraging this award, SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT will expand their business for the emerging LEO market.