TOKYO, April 15, 2020 – Today, as part of our continuing efforts to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Axelspace Corporation signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan Space Systems (“J-spacesystems”) to promote the use of satellite data in the field of capacity building and human resource development.
Since 2012, J-spacesystems has engaged in capacity building programs in order to contribute to SDGs and address global social issues through the use of satellite data. To date, these programs have reached over 100 individuals in 30 countries around the world. In the past these programs have sought to reduce costs by utilizing freely available satellite imagery, which does not always offer satisfactory imaging frequency or resolution for analysis. Furthermore, imagery of more specific locations and observation requests are unavailable.
AxelGlobe is Axelspace’s next generation Earth observation platform which will offer convenient access to imaging data at the resolution of 2.5m – a level which is rarely seen in freely available data. With four launches planned in 2020, the AxelGlobe constellation will soon comprise 5 satellites and offer the ability to image any location on Earth once every three days. By 2022, we plan to further expand the constellation to offer updated imaging on a daily basis.
Through our partnership, Axelspace and J-spacesystems will use AxelGlobe data to meet the high resolution and high frequency needs of the aforementioned capacity building programs (including support for programs such as the Japanese Government’s ABE Initiative*1), as well as promote the broader use of such data to address issues raised by program participants. In doing so, our companies hope to make a substantial contribution to achieving SDGs.
*1 ABE Initiative
At the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) in June 2013, Japan unveiled a public-private partnership program to support stable and sustainable economic development in Africa. In his keynote speech, Prime Minister Abe announced the Africa Business Education Initiative for Youth (“ABE Initiative”), a five-year program offering 1,000 young people in Africa opportunities to pursue undergraduate and graduate education at Japanese universities, as well as internships at Japanese companies. As highlighted in the “Proposal by the Public-Private Council for the Promotion of TICAD V”, this initiative seeks to support human resource development in both the private and public sectors of Africa, deepen awareness of Japanese technology and companies among African nations, and increase the number of Africans visiting Japan. Additionally, the “ABE Initiative 3.0” was announced at TICAD VII as a six-year program with the goal of training 3,000 individuals. For further details please refer to the following website:
https://www.jica.go.jp/english/countries/africa/internship.html
https://www.jica.go.jp/africahiroba/business/detail/03/ku57pq00001jwm0b-att/abc_pamphlet_en.pdf
ABOUT JAPAN SPACE SYSTEMS
The objective of Japan Space Systems is to promote the development of pioneering technologies in space and the utilization of space technologies, and to contribute to the promotion of preserving the Earth’s environment and energy resources, contributing to the further development of the space industry by ensuring the national safety and security, the sound expansion of national economy, and the contribution to the global society through research, development, global cooperation, popularization and education, human resources development in the area of ‘space systems’ which include; satellite systems, launching systems, satellite operation facilities, satellite remote sensing, and space environment utilization.