AxelGlobe Earth Observation Platform (GRUS)

Axelspace is a Tokyo microsatellite company founded in 2008 by members of a university team that launched a one-kilogram satellite in 2003. It has developed and operated 18 microsatellites and aims to make frequent satellite imagery affordable for everyday business.

AxelGlobe is its Earth observation service built on the GRUS constellation. GRUS-1 provides 2.5 m panchromatic and 5 m multispectral imagery with a red-edge band, a 55 km swath and 2-3 day revisit; seven GRUS-3 satellites launched in July 2026 add 2.2 m imagery and a coastal-blue band. Customers buy archive images, task new captures, order repeated monitoring or cloud-free mosaics through a web platform and API. Users include Japan's Geospatial Information Authority, agriculture firms and space situational awareness providers.

• Archive: purchase past images for a chosen date and area.
• Tasking: schedule new captures via web UI or Tasking API.
• Monitoring: repeated captures over a set area and period.
• Mosaic: cloud-free imagery of wide areas for a chosen period.
• Analysis and consulting: custom analytics such as NDVI or flood mapping.
• AxelLiner: dedicated satellite development and operation for customers.

• Agribusinesses in the Mekong Delta tracking rice growth with red-edge imagery each season.
• Forestry and plantation companies producing cloud-free mosaics for annual change checks.
• Disaster agencies tasking rapid captures after typhoons and floods.

• Wide 55 km swath and up to 750,000 km² per day with GRUS-1, rising to 2,300,000 km² per day with seven GRUS-3 satellites.
• Red-edge and near-infrared bands suited to crop and forest monitoring.
• Flexible plans: archive, tasking, periodic monitoring, mosaics and analysis support.
• A free account to browse imagery thumbnails before buying.

Constellations of small satellites are lowering the cost of frequent medium-resolution imagery. In Southeast Asia, demand is growing for regular crop, forest and flood monitoring, and Japanese space firms are expanding abroad through partners such as Airbus, KSAT and Australian distributors.

Founded in 2008 in Tokyo; part of Axelspace Holdings, with over 200 staff. Partnerships in 2025-2026 with Geoimage (Australia), Nara Space (Korea), KSAT, NSG UP42 and Airbus. Selected for a Japan Ministry of Defense constellation project (2026). In September 2026 the company reported a malfunction affecting GRUS-3.