SPACE

CHALLENGE

Canon Electronics’ Challenge
～The origin story and History～

Origin

The origin story

1999: Sakamaki was appointed President of Canon Electronics Inc. (CE) with a dream of entering the space industry. From his experience participating in many new product launches as a member of Canon Inc.'s R&D division, he knew that CE possessed the technology and expertise in precision machines and optics to enter the satellite manufacturing market.

2002: Sakamaki was inspired by a conversation with a friend, "the coming era will belong to those who rule near-Earth space,” he intuitively felt "this is our chance!".

With a clear path to realizing his dream, Sakamaki had implemented a series of bold reorganizations in management in order to build up the necessary funds and worked tirelessly to recruit talented and experienced human resources. In 2009, Sakamaki officially kicked off CE's challenge to enter the space industry.

History

Major milestones in CE Space

2017.06
The first micro-satellite, CE-SAT-I, was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India and orbited the Earth at an altitude of 500 km. This marked the first successful launch of a self-funded satellite by a private company in Japan's history.
The CE-SAT-I is still being tested by taking images of the ground and so on.
2017.08
Canon Electronics, in partnership with IHI Aerospace, Shimizu corporation, and Development Bank of Japan, established SPACE ONE Co., Ltd. (formaly New Generation Small Rocket Development Planning Co. Ltd.).
2018.02
JAXA succeeded in launching the small rocket "SS-520-5" with a total length of less than 10 meters. Canon Electronics provided several components including avionics.
2020.10
The third micro-satellite, CE-SAT-IIB, was launched from New Zealand. The satellite entered a 500km sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite was equipped with three cameras including the ultra- high-sensitivity camera , along with other in-house developed components.
For making the telescope series, CE had started a two-year demonstration experiment and it is still ongoing.

BUSINESS

Three Pillars of Satellite Business

SATELLITE

Ready-made and Semi-custom Satellites

CE sells satellites by leveraging its own experience in developing and demonstrating micro-satellites. Satellite buses to equip small and medium size telescopes are also being demonstrated, and we can propose performance that meets your needs by semi-customization.

Micro-satellite CE-SAT-IE
  • Date of Launch : 17th February, 2024 (JST)
  • Dimensions : 500 x 500 x 800mm、Mass : 70kg
  • Orbit : Sun-synchronous orbit (Altitude : 670km)
  • It is the successor to the CE-SAT-I and has two cameras, a telephoto and a wide-angle
  • 【Primary telephoto】
    • EOS R5 with mirror diameter 400mm
    • GSD : 0.8 m
    • Shooting Area : 6.5 km x 4.3 km
  • 【Secondary telephoto】
    • PowerShot S110
    • Shooting Area : 192ｘ144（Tele）km、962ｘ722（Wide）km

  • CE-SAT-IE’s Mission

    1. Ground surface photography (still images and videos) with GSD 0.8m and astrophotography using the primary telephoto
      • Conduct a demonstration for the remote sensing business
      • Geospatial Information and Disaster Prevention Activities
      • Acquisition of satellite images that contribute to the safety and security of society
    2. Demonstration of satellite bus technology
      • Demonstration experiment of new mission computer and telecommunications equipment, as well as our in-house developed optical systems, various sensors, and actuators.
      • Exercise on Satellite Orbit Determination by Satellite Laser Ranging using JAXA-Developed Equipment (Mt. FUJI)
        (Data acquisition and evaluation by laser ranging surveying are carried out jointly by JAXA, and evaluation of orbit determination, etc. is carried out jointly.)

Micro-satellite CE-SAT-IIB
  • Date of Launch : 29th October, 2020 (JST) (still in operation)
  • Dimensions: 292×392×673mm, Mass: 35.5kg
  • Orbit: Sun-synchronous orbit (altitude: 500km)
  • Equipped with three types of cameras
    • Primary telephoto: Ultra-high-sensitivity Camera with mirror diameter 200mm
    • Secondary telephoto: Canon’s mirrorless camera EOS M100 with mirror diameter 87mm
    • Wide-Angle telescope: Canon’s compact digital camera PowerShot G9 X Mark II
  • Ground Sample Distance (GSD) and Shooting Area
    • Primary telephoto: 5.1m, 3.5km×2.3km
    • Secondary telephoto: 2.3m, 5.6km×3.7km
  • ・The ultra-high-sensitivity camera is a product developed in-house by Canon Electronics. Using Canon's ultra-high-sensitivity CMOS sensor enable to take night images with a significantly improved ground resolution (nadir) from a few hundred meters (equivalent to satellite images commonly used for night light observation) to 5.1 meters. It is possible not only to observe objects that emit bright light such as streetlights of urban areas, but also to observe grounds illuminated by a light source as small as moonlight.
  • Components (In house) ：Cassegrain reflectingor telescope, Ultra-high-sensitivity camera, Geomagnetic sensor, Sun sensor, Star tracker, Inertial reference unit, Magnetorquer, Reaction wheel and more.

Micro-satellite CE-SAT-I
  • Launch date: June 23, 2017 (still in operation)
  • Won a Good Design Award in 2017
  • Equips an image processing system combined Canon's EOS 5D Mark III digital SLR camera and a 400mm diameter Catadioptric Cassegrain telescope. This allows a 4.8km x 3.2km ground image with 0.84m GSD　(nadir), good enough to count individual cars.
  • Canon’s compact digital camera, PowerShot can take wide-angle images of 760km x 571km.
  • Once images are transmitted to ground stations, they can be analyzed for use in agriculture, natural disaster response, and more.
  • Color video and night-time photography are available
  • Dimensions: 500 x 500 x 850mm; Mass: 65kg

COMPONENTS

② In-house Components

Optical payloads

Telescopes and cameras leveraging the full optical expertise of Canon

Space Telescopes

Super telephoto optical system for taking high-resolution photographs of the ground from orbit (maximum aperture 400mm)

  • Originally designed high-performance Cassegrain system with correction lenses
  • Equipped with focusing actuator
  • Equipped with a space camera using Canon's CMOS sensor
Actuators

Satellite actuators based on CE experience with motors and magnetic components

Magnetorquer

Magnetic actuator for controlling satellite attitude via interactions with the Earth magnetic field

Reaction Wheel

Actuator for controlling spacecraft attitude via momentum transfer to a rotating wheel
Sensors

Precise sensors for determining satellite attitude

Sun Sensor

Determines the direction of the sun on a satellite by detecting sunlight

Star Tracker

Sensors for highly accurate determination of the attitude of satellites from the direction of stars

  • Originally designed optical system using radiation-resistant optical glass
  • Robust attitude detection by using original algorithm
  • Lost-in-space star identification in 1 second

Geomagnetic Sensor

Measures the geomagnetic field vector by detecting differences in the coil current

Inertial Reference Unit

Measures angle and angular rate; comprised of multiple gyroscopes

DATA

Satellite Imagery

Canon Electronics’ Micro-satellite CE-SAT series capture high-resolution photographs of the Earth's surface and outer space.
CE-SAT image data is provided through the Remote Sensing Technology Center “RESTEC”.

Remote Sensing Technology Center
https://www.restec.or.jp/en/

Examples of Satellite Data Use

Monitoring parking lots

With photographs at regular intervals, the use rate of parking lots may be calculated. Tracking changes in use with seasons or time of day allows improvements in logistics and resource allocation.

Monitoring traffic conditions

By monitoring traffic density or lengths of traffic jams, it is possible to determine fastest routes in near real time. CE-SAT-I imagery allows distinction between semi-trailer trucks and passenger vehicles, which further aids in optimizing navigation routes.

Fishing industry

High resolution satellite imagery can gather data from remote locations, including over water. This allows monitoring of fish hatcheries or vessels moored off-shore.

Oil industry

External floating roof tanks are used around the world for storing petroleum products. With high-resolution satellite imagery, it is possible to measure the contents of the tanks, giving market analysts an edge.
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