Page 51 - SAMENA Trends - November 2020

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

SATELLITE NEWS

Japan Launches JDRS-1 Optical Data Relay Satellite for Military, Civilian Use

Japan has a new data relay satellite head- satellite was jointly developed by JAXA as soon as 2021. The JDRS-1 replaces
ed for geostationary orbit following suc- and the Government of Japan. The Cabi- the “Kodama” Data Relay Test Satellite
cessful launch of JDRS-1 on a Mitsubishi net Satellite Intelligence Center owns and (DRTS) launched in 2002 and operational
Heavy Industries’ H-IIA rocket. Mitsubishi operates the satellite, with JAXA responsi- through August 2017. The LUCAS payload
Heavy Industries confirmed separation of ble for the optical data relay function. The allows data transfer at around seven times
JDRS-1 and launch success two and a half satellite will operate in a geostationary or- faster than the S-band and Ka-band DRTS
hours later. The JDRS-1 will relay optical bit at 35,400 kilometers above the Earth, . JDRS-1 launch was the 43rd of the four
and radar data from Japan’s Information relaying data between Japanese satellites variants of the H-IIA rocket, which boasts
Gathering Satellites (IGS) and other data passing below and ground stations. This a 100 percent success rate. The H-IIA and
from science satellites to Earth. Few de- allows speedier passing of data, facilitat- H-IIB are to be retired by the end of 2023
tails of the satellite have been revealed due ing its transfer when a satellite would oth- and replaced by the new H3 rocket. The
to the largely military nature of its mission. erwise not have a clear view of the ground latter was expected to have an inaugural
The new satellite carries Laser Utilizing station. Japan’s follow-on Advanced Land launch by the end of 2020, but this has
Communication System (LUCAS) devel- Observation Satellites for Earth science now slipped to Japanese Financial Year
oped by JAXA. LUCAS uses infrared light and observation, ALOS-3 and ALOS-4, will 2021, beginning April 2021, following dis-
to facilitate inter-satellite links at rates of be capable of utilizing the full relay capa- covery of issues with components of the
up to 1.8 gigabits per second. The JDRS bilities of JDRS-1. ALOS-3 could launch new LE-9 rocket engine.

Axelspace Prepares to Expand Earth-Observation Constellation

With four satellites scheduled to launch
in 2021, Tokyo-based Axelspace Corp. is
moving toward its goal of capturing daily,
global Earth imagery. “The additional
satellites will help us jump the curve
by elevating the revisit rate to up to 1.4
days,” Yasunori Yamazaki, Axelspace chief
business officer, told SpaceNews by email.
Alexspace began commercial operations
in 2019 with imagery from its first
100-kilogram satellite launched in 2018.
Alexspace announced plans Nov. 11 to
send four satellites into sun-synchronous
orbit in March on a Soyuz-2 rocket from
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
When the company has five satellites,
its constellation will revisit mid-latitude
regions including Japan an average of with a resolution of 2.5 meters in red, blue mitigate the damage, starting only from
1.4 times per day and low-latitude areas and green, near-infrared and red-edge a monthly fee of $500,” Yamazaki said.
once every three days. While awaiting the wavelengths. The imagery is designed for Prior to accidents or disasters, Axelspace
launch, Axelspace is continuing to build customers seeking to detect changes in captures imagery of facilities and the
satellites to expand its Earth-observation agricultural fields and forests in addition to surrounding area for BCP customers. After
constellation. “The simultaneous tracking economic trends and conducting an event, Axelspace provides customers
development of four satellites was the first environment monitoring. In October, with information on the state of their
step towards full-scale mass production,” Axelspace began offering a business assets and the surrounding environment.
Axelspace said in a Nov. 11 news release. continuity planning (BCP) service. “We Axelspace offers customers access to
Alexspace satellites, called GRUS, are offer satellite images to solve the pressing imagery through AxelGlobe, a web-based
equipped with cameras to gather imagery needs to monitor disaster-prone areas to Earth observation platform.

51 NOVEMBER 2020