Japanese space startup, Axelspace has announce that its microsatellite constellation-based Earth observation platform, “AxelGlobe,” has been selected for the “Open Innovation Challenge TSUBASA the “Transformational Start Ups’ Business Acceleration for the SDGs Agenda” support program hosted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and IDB Lab, the innovation lab of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group.
In Central/South America and the Caribbean regions, according to the startup, satellite data is actively utilized in SDG-related areas such as agriculture, forest management, and environmental monitoring. This aligns with our firm’s focus areas, and we have deployed a manager in Sao Paulo, Brazil in an effort to develop our business in these regions.
“We have been supporting the Open Data Cube program of the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) since 2022, an open platform for satellite images which is being developed in many countries in recent years”, say Axelspace CEO. The INPE uses satellite images to observe and analyze the vegetation of tropical rainforests and savanna areas for vegetation protection of these regions. There is an urgent need to develop satellite data sets to improve quality, reduce costs, and increase the speed of observation and analysis.
To address this need, the startup said, “We provide GRUS satellite images to INPE’s Open Data Cube platform through AxelGlobe and support the promotion of centralized data development. Through the centralization of data, we aim to increase the efficiency and reliability of various analyses using satellite data, and also to facilitate INPE and other organizations and partners in the Central/South America and Caribbean regions to utilize satellite data to solve various social issues, especially the SDGs”.
With our selection for “Open Innovation Challenge TSUBASA,” we will contribute to Central/South America and the Caribbean region achieving their SDG goals through accelerating our partnerships in new fields in this area, including our efforts with IPNE, the development of satellite data resources, and the development of services says Axelspace CEO.
*Open Innovation Challenge TSUBASA is a business competition to select companies that will receive support from the “Transformational Start Ups’ Business Acceleration for the SDGs Agenda (TSUBASA)” program, a collaborative initiative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and IDB Lab, the innovation lab of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group.
The “TSUBASA” program aims to tackle various issues such as deforestation, environmental conservation, and water resource management by supporting Japanese startups with a desire to expand their businesses in the Central/South America and Caribbean regions. Eight startups were selected for the program in FY2021, and we were chosen as one of the selected companies for FY2022.