Japans Owl spy satellites in orbit

Earth observation specialist Synspective has been selected as a partner company in the Satellite Constellation Project of Japan’s Ministry of Defense. A designer and operator of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites, it will contribute imaging data and analytics to the project. Synspective also has close links with the US space and defense establishment and with NATO.

A special-purpose company established to implement the project by Mitsubishi Electric, Mitsui & Co. and SKY Perfect JSAT is expected to sign a 5-year contract with the ministry this month. Mitsui Bussan Aerospace, Axelspace and Institute for Q-shu Pioneers of Space (QPS) will also participate as partner companies.

The project will employ a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to build a satellite constellation operated by private companies, aiming to provide consistent and timely satellite imaging intelligence to strengthen the defense ministry’s space situational awareness, reconnaissance and stand-off defense capabilities. According to SKY Perfect JSAT, “Existing commercial satellite imagery services may not consistently deliver images when required.”

SAR, as explained by NASA, is a type of active data collection in which an instrument sends out a pulse of energy and then records the amount of that energy reflected back after it has interacted with Earth. Unlike optical imagery, which is a passive data collection technique based on emitted energy, SAR imagery is created from the reaction of an emitted pulse of energy with physical structures and conditions – regardless of darkness, cloud cover, or state of matter (e.g. tracking oil spills).

The Japanese government’s PFI leverages private sector capital and expertise to improve the quality and lower the cost of national defense and other social infrastructure projects.

Synspective was founded in 2018 as an outgrowth of the ImPACT (Impulsing Paradigm Change through Disruptive Technologies) program, a Japanese government-led R&D initiative started four years earlier to promote high-risk, high-impact scientific and technological innovation.

Structured as a venture company, Synspective was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market in December 2024.

ImPACT developed the core technology for Synspective’s small SAR satellites. In 2020, Synspective’s first SAR satellite, StriX-a, was put into a Sun Synchronous Orbit at an altitude of 500km by an Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab from its Mahia Peninsula spaceport in New Zealand.

The StriX name comes from Strix Uralensis, the scientific name of the Ural owl, which is common in Japan and ranges across Russia to Scandinavia. “Owls,” Synspective notes, “have highly developed hearing and vision, allowing them to forage even in total darkness. Being able to see at night is also an important feature of SAR satellites. The satellite’s extended antenna, reminiscent of bird wings, further underscores this connection to its namesake.”

In 2024, the sixth StriX satellite was launched by Rocket Lab and a 10 Electron launch contract was signed with Rocket Lab for 2025-27. Synspective also began mass production of SAR satellites at its Yamato Technology Center in Kanagawa Prefecture west of Yokohama.

Built in collaboration with Japanese manufacturers Tokyo Keiki and Seiren, the Yamato factory is designed to produce 12 satellites per year, which should enable Synspective to reach its goal of launching constellation of 30 small SAR satellites by the late 2020s.

Tokyo Keiki produces microwave power amplifier modules for Synspective satellites. Seiren is a precision textile manufacturer that has expanded into electronics and the production of micro-satellites.

In 2025, representatives of the US military, Department of State, NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) and NASA visited the Yamato Technology Center. The most prominent of these visitors was the commander of the US Space Force, Japan.

In March 2025, Synspective established a subsidiary in Colorado (two, actually, a holding company and an operating company). In April, Ronda Schrenk, CEO of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, and Mike Edwards, CEO of defense contractor AOC Global Services, were appointed to Synspective USA’s board of directors.

The seventh StriX SAR satellite, the “Owl New World” mission was launched last October and deployed in December.

Synspective also has a subsidiary in Singapore, established in 2021, that oversees the company’s activities in Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe. These include collaboration with SATIM, a Polish developer of AI-based Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) using SAR imagery. SATIM’s algorithms have been integrated into Synspective’s analytical platform, improving detection and classification of target objects.

Synspective’s SAR satellite is in the 100kg class. Although its weight is about a tenth of the weight of a conventional large SAR satellite, it equals the performance of large SAR satellites, according to Synspective. Accounting for development and launch expenses, it costs about a twentieth as much.

Synspective’s SAR satellites can obtain data covering over 1,000km² with 1m-3m resolution anywhere in the world. Synspective provides SAR data and remote monitoring services, plus cloud-based analytics, to government agencies and companies worldwide for purposes of disaster response, environmental monitoring and, of course, national security.

In July 2024, Synspective announced that it had acquired images with a 25cm azimuth resolution, the highest resolution achieved by a Japanese company, during a test observation in the new Staring Spotlight Mode, which continuously illuminates a specific spot on the ground surface to obtain high-resolution images.

“Azimuth resolution,” according to ScienceDirect, “is defined as the measure of the ability of a radar system to distinguish between two targets located in the direction parallel to the flight path.”

Synspective’s Mission Statement begins hopefully, saying it intends to “create a new infrastructure that enables the next generation to understand our Earth and achieve a resilient future” – but then gets to the point:

Everyone shares the common hope for people to live peacefully and enhance their quality of life for themselves and future generations. However, disasters and conflicts now threaten this hope. The vital infrastructure we’ve created has been destroyed, and countless lives have been lost. Moreover, environmental challenges and limited resources are obstructing sustainable development.

Synspective’s senior executives are members of Japan’s project management and space engineering elite. CEO Motoyuki Arai is a former business consultant with a PhD in Technology Management from the University of Tokyo who has experience leading energy and other infrastructure projects in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and in disaster-stricken areas in Japan.

Chief Engineer Toshihiro Obata oversees the development, manufacturing and operation of the company’s small SAR satellites. Prior to joining Synspective, he worked at Mitsubishi Electric for nearly 20 years, first leading the team working on attitude control subsystems for Earth observation satellites, then as the manager of systems engineering for Earth observation satellites.

Chief Revenue Officer Takayuki Odawara is a geospatial business development expert with 30 years of experience in Earth observation and remote sensing, location-based services, connected cars, and intelligent transportation systems.

Executive Officer and General Manager Tomoyuki Imaizumi oversees ground system development and data production. Previously he worked at a geospatial information provider where he developed a high-speed image processing system for ASNARO satellite ground systems and became the project leader of research and development for feature recognition from satellite data through deep learning.

The ASNARO (Advanced Satellite with New system Architecture for Observation) is a research and development project led by NEC under the auspices of METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) and NEDO (New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization).　

To fully understand Japan’s military space program, we must look beyond the big defense contractors to specialized ventures like Synspective.

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