Fukuoka, JAPAN – March 3, 2021- Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space, Inc. (iQPS) released its first light images from QPS-SAR 2nd satellite “Izanami” which was launched on January 24th (US EST) by SpaceX Falcon 9 Transporter-1 Mission. After a month-long calibration of Izanami, Izanami demonstrated its capability to achieve ground plane resolution of azimuth direction 1.8m and range direction 0.7m (70cm) at its stripmap mode first light image, which will be the first and the finest resolution as a Japanese small (around 100kg) SAR satellite.

iQPS will continue to improve the image quality while adjusting the satellite’s attitude control, and will start observations in the spotlight mode (high-resolution mode) which will achieve a resolution of less than 1m. In addition, iQPS will keep the development of the data provision platform for the full-scale launch of its data service business.

 

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＜Overview of First light images ＞

Observation dates & times:

①　14:09 p.m.（JST）February 19, 2021

②　21:22 p.m.（JST）February 23, 2021

③　21:11p.m.（JST）February 24, 2021

④ 21:00p.m.（JST）February 25, 2021

 

Locations:

①　San Francisco, California

②　Fukuoka city, Fukuoka, Japan

③　Kurashiki city, Okayama, Japan

④　Osaka city, Osaka, Japan

 

Resolution of first light images:

Stripmap imaging mode 1.8m (ground plane resolution of Azimuth direction 1.8m x Range direction 0.7m)

※The 1.8-meter resolution images: The image of the skyscrapers in San Francisco (①-1) and the image of ships docked and cars loaded in San Francisco port (①-2).

 

Izanami observation mode:

Izanami has obsevation mode of Standard mode (Stripmap mode) which is 1.8 meter resolution and

High Resolution mode (Spotlight mode) which is less than 1 meter resolution. Our first lights are observed by Standard mode (Stripmap mode).

 

Imaging support:

Alouette Technology Inc.

 

First light SAR images:

Please click for higher resolution images.

①　San Francisco, California

 

 

①-1　The image of the skyscrapers in San Francisco, 1.8-meter resolution

 

 

①-2　The image of ships docked and cars loaded in San Francisco port, 1.8-meter resolution

 

 

②　Fukuoka city, Fukuoka, Japan

 

 

③　Kurashiki city, Okayama, Japan

 

 

④　Osaka city, Osaka, Japan

 

 

 

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Shunsuke Onishi, CEO message:

“I am very glad and excited to finally show you the first image by our small SAR satellite Izanami. Our first satellite, Izanagi, launched in December 2019, achieved 95% functionality as a SAR satellite. However, unfortunately, we found a touble just before the data storage which caused a huge degradation of the data. Undaunted by this result, the operation team has kept on accumulating knowledge and experience about the procedures and conditions such as attitude, angle, and timing to achieve smooth SAR observations through Izanagi. Because of this accumulation of experience, I believe that we were able to acquire the first image of Izanami in a short period, which is about just one month after its launch.

I am so proud of the strong teamwork and technical capabilities of our 20 partnership companies in Northern Kyushu and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our shareholders, the Fukuoka Prefectural Government, our partner Kyushu Electric Power Company, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for their continuous support of our project. We will continue to move forward with even greater speed to achieve the 36-satellite constellation by 2025.”