Orbital Lasers

About Orbital Lasers

Orbital Lasers Co., Ltd. is a Japanese startup developing satellite-mounted laser technologies for space debris removal and Earth observation. The company spun out of SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, a major satellite operator, on January 12, 2024. The venture originated from an internal startup program at SKY Perfect JSAT initiated in 2018. The company's President and CEO, Tadanori Fukushima, previously worked for nearly 14 years at SKY Perfect JSAT in roles including satellite operations and collision avoidance, which sparked his concern about the growing space debris problem. In 2020, Fukushima established a research team at the Japanese research institute RIKEN to develop the core laser technology. By 2022, the team achieved a proof-of-concept for a compact, high-efficiency space-based pulsed laser.

Orbital Lasers is pursuing two primary business lines: Space Debris Removal and Satellite LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging). The Space Debris Removal service will use laser ablation, where a laser beam vaporizes the surface of a debris object to create thrust, allowing for contactless and safe adjustment of its trajectory or reduction of its rotational motion. This method is particularly effective for stabilizing tumbling debris, which is difficult to capture with physical methods. The company plans to offer a payload for detumbling in fiscal year 2025 and an active debris removal service by fiscal year 2029. This addresses the significant environmental issue of space debris, with an estimated 1.1 million objects between 1 cm and 10 cm currently in orbit.

The second business line, Satellite LiDAR, applies the same advanced laser technology for high-precision Earth observation. By operating a constellation of small LiDAR satellites, Orbital Lasers aims to provide high-resolution altitude data for any location on Earth. This data has applications in disaster prevention, infrastructure management, urban digital twins, 3D mapping, and forest management. The company's technology is designed to be significantly lighter and more cost-effective than existing systems, potentially reducing satellite weight by over 70% and manufacturing costs by over 90%. The company has secured contracts for conceptual studies with JAXA, Japan's space agency. In March 2026, Orbital Lasers announced it had raised approximately $20 million (¥3.02 billion) in a Series A funding round to accelerate development.