GRUS is Axelspace's 100-150 kg class optical Earth-observation microsatellite bus, the building block of the AxelGlobe satellite constellation, delivering sub-3-meter multispectral imagery for agriculture, environmental monitoring, and mapping.
GRUS
GRUS is Axelspace's 100-150 kg class optical Earth-observation microsatellite bus, the building block of the AxelGlobe satellite constellation, delivering sub-3-meter multispectral imagery for agriculture, environmental monitoring, and mapping.
Description
GRUS is a compact, mass-producible Earth-observation microsatellite developed by the Japanese New Space company Axelspace to power its AxelGlobe optical satellite constellation. The platform uses twin onboard telescopes to combine a wide imaging swath with high spatial resolution. The first-generation GRUS-1 bus (~80-100 kg) captures panchromatic imagery at 2.5 m ground sample distance and multispectral imagery at 5.0 m GSD, with a swath width of 55+ km, from a 585-600 km sun-synchronous sub-recurrent orbit with a design life exceeding 5 years. Five GRUS-1 satellites were launched between December 2018 and March 2021 and formed the operational AxelGlobe constellation from June 2021. The next-generation GRUS-3 bus scales up to roughly 150 kg wet mass, improves spatial resolution to 2.2 m, adds a coastal-blue band, and integrates Nikon-built telescopes. A GRUS-3 precursor unit launched June 23, 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-14 rideshare from Vandenberg and remains operational in validation. Seven additional GRUS-3 satellites were slated to launch together on a Falcon 9 Transporter-17 rideshare mission on July 7, 2026. AxelGlobe imagery serves agriculture, forestry, disaster response, infrastructure, and national mapping customers.
Specifications
| Satellite mass (GRUS-1) | ~80-100 kg |
|---|---|
| Satellite mass (GRUS-3) | ~150 kg (wet mass) |
| Panchromatic resolution (GRUS-1) | 2.5 m GSD or better |
| Multispectral resolution (GRUS-1) | 5.0 m GSD or better |
| Spatial resolution (GRUS-3) | 2.2 m GSD |
| Swath width (GRUS-1) | 55 km or more |
| Spectral bands (GRUS-1) | Panchromatic, Blue, Green, Red, Red Edge, Near-Infrared |
| Orbit | 585-600 km altitude, sun-synchronous sub-recurrent orbit |
| Design life | Over 5 years |
| Flight heritage - GRUS-1 | 5 satellites launched Dec 2018-Mar 2021; operational AxelGlobe constellation since June 2021 |
| Flight heritage - GRUS-3 | Precursor launched June 23, 2025 (Transporter-14); seven production satellites launched July 7, 2026 (Transporter-17) |