SPACE INDEX COMPANIES INSIGHTS SECTORS PRODUCTS NEWS BLOG ANSWERS RESEARCH ABOUT FOR COMPANIES BUILD / 2026.06.04
Alba Orbital logo Alba Orbital Designs and manufactures PocketQube picosatellites, brokers rideshare launches, and operates a nighttime Earth observation constellation vs JAXA Japan's national space agency conducting launch operations, satellite development, Earth observation, asteroid exploration, and human spaceflight research JAXA logo
HEAD-TO-HEAD1 shared sector
Alba Orbital JAXA
Founded 2012 2003
Headquarters Glasgow, United Kingdom Chofu, Japan
Type private government
Status operating operating
Employees 14
Total funding $3.4M
Latest round Seed
Sectors Satellite Manufacturing, Earth Observation & Remote Sensing Launch Services, Earth Observation & Remote Sensing, Planetary Exploration
Products listed 5 42
Federal contracts
Launches
Leaders listed Tom Walkinshaw, Irene Belton Shanks Hiroshi Yamakawa, Sonoko Watanabe, Masashi Okada
News mentions 0 0
SHARED SECTORS
FREQUENTLY ASKED

How do Alba Orbital and JAXA compare?

Both companies work in Earth Observation & Remote Sensing. Alba Orbital was founded in 2012 and JAXA in 2003.

Numbers refresh on every render against the live Space Index database. Federal contract data from USAspending.gov; launches from LaunchLibrary2.