Axelspace Corporation, a leading developer and operator of microsatellites dedicated to realizing its vision of “Space within Your Reach,” announced that GRUS-3, a set of seven next-generation Earth observation microsatellites, is scheduled to be launched no earlier than July 2026.
The seven GRUS-3 microsatellites will launch aboard the Transporter-17 rideshare mission via Exolaunch, a global leader in launch mission management, satellite integration, and deployment services, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. We currently operate five optical Earth observation microsatellites, GRUS-1, under our Earth observation data service, AxelGlobe. With the launch of its successor, GRUS-3, it will expand its satellite constellation to more than 10 satellites.
GRUS-3 will capture images of the Earth’s surface at the same location once per day for locations north of 25 degrees latitude from an orbit at an altitude of 585 km. It features a spatial resolution (GSD) of 2.2 meters, with each satellite having an effective swath of 28.3 km and a maximum capture length of 1,356km. A combined daily capture capacity is 2.3 million km² across seven satellites.
By enabling wide-area, high-frequency observation, GRUS-3 allows for more rapid and continuous monitoring of changes on the Earth's surface. GRUS-3 is newly equipped with the “coastal blue” spectral band, which is effective for capturing information beneath the water surface. In addition to acquiring true color imagery and data for analyzing vegetation health, as with GRUS-1, GRUS-3 can also observe shallow coastal features such as seabed topography and seagrass beds.
By combining the enhanced observation frequency and performance of GRUS-3 with our satellite attitude control technology enabling tasking (on-demand imaging of designated areas), we will meet growing demand across a wide range of fields, environment and security, in addition to precision agriculture, forest monitoring and map creation.
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