SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (SKY Perfect JSAT) and Kongsberg Satellite Services AS (KSAT) have announced that Axelspace Corporation (Axelspace) has selected the SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT joint Ground Station Service for their GRUS satellite for the AxelGlobe project.
Aerial photo of the KSAT Svalbard Ground Station located at 78 degrees North, the world’s largest commercial ground station that provides all orbit support.
SKY Perfect JSAT’s owned and operated ground station at the Ibaraki Network Control Center will be used and will support every orbit from the KSAT ground station at Svalbard. This is the first joint ground service contract award for the partners, cooperating under a Strategic Alliance Agreement for LEO ground station service that was concluded in 20162.
The Axelspace GRUS smallsat.
SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT will support this satellite program with KSATLite, a global ground network as a service, optimized for smallsats as well as large constellations. A high degree of standardization, supporting all of the major standards in satellite and launch vehicle space to ground communications, makes the service easily scalable and cost effective. The KSATLite global network is fully operational and, by leveraging this award, SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT will expand their business for the emerging LEO market.
GRUS is a next-generation, remote sensing smallsat and is the building block of Axelspace’s EO LEO constellation. Even with a mass of less than 100 kg., the satellite will enable imagery captures with 2.5 meter ground resolution. The first GRUS-1 satellite will be launched in December followed by many more during the coming years, making high-frequency monitoring a reality for the entire Earth.
Artistic rendition of the Axelspace LEO constellation.
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.
Photo from left to right: Mr. Shinji Takada of JSAT, Mr. Yuya Nakaura of Axelspace, Mr. Rolf Skatteboe of KSAT.
Axelspace will start commercial service for the imagery as well as analysis data in 2019. More than 7,000 smallsats are expected to be launched into orbit by 20273 globally, fueled by technological development, new innovative solutions and launch services emerging, and the ground business market will be expanded accordingly. SKY Perfect JSAT and KSAT have strong interest in growing and supporting the NewSpace community and expanding their presence in the LEO domain.
1Axelspace press release “Axelspace Completed Series-B Round of Financing” December 7, 2018, https://www.axelspace.com/en/info_/20181207/press_20181207_en/
2SKY Perfect JSAT press release “SKY Perfect JSAT has entered into a Strategic Alliance with Kongsberg Satellite Services, world-leading ground station services provider for LEO Satellite Operators to accelerate LEO-related businesses and enter into maritime information service” December 7, 2016, https://www.sptvjsat.com/load_pdf.php?pTb=t_news_&pRi=752&pJe=2
3Euroconsult, "PROSPECTS FOR THE SMALL SATELLITE MARKET 2018 Edition, https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/1512/10/news134.html
