Axelspace

About Axelspace

Axelspace is a Japanese company specializing in microsatellite technology, founded in 2008 by Yuya Nakamura and Naoki Miyashita. The company originated from research at the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. CEO Yuya Nakamura's journey began with a successful university project in 2003, launching the world's first CubeSat, a palm-sized satellite, which fueled his vision for the societal potential of microsatellites. The company was established after a successful joint study with Weathernews Inc. to develop a microsatellite for monitoring sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Axelspace operates on a business model that provides two main services: AxelGlobe and AxelLiner. Since its founding, the company has developed and operated 11 satellites. In August 2025, its holding company, Axelspace Holdings Corporation, was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market. The company has raised a total of $107M over five funding rounds, with the latest being a Series D round in December 2023.

AxelGlobe is an Earth observation platform that utilizes a constellation of GRUS microsatellites to provide high-resolution imagery. This service allows clients from various industries, including agriculture, disaster management, and journalism, to monitor global events and receive valuable business intelligence. The platform offers data across multiple spectral bands, including panchromatic, RGB, Red-Edge, and Near-Infrared, which provides insights into vegetation and water that are not visible to the naked eye.

AxelLiner is a one-stop service for microsatellite development, offering everything from design and manufacturing to launch and in-orbit operations. This service aims to standardize and mass-produce 100kg-class satellites, reducing development time and costs compared to traditional custom-built satellites. In March 2024, Axelspace successfully launched PYXIS, the first demonstration satellite for the AxelLiner service, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. PYXIS is testing a versatile satellite bus system and a deorbit mechanism designed to mitigate space debris. An extension of this service, the AxelLiner Laboratory (AL Lab), offers in-orbit demonstration opportunities for space components.