Astroscale signs contract with Rocket Lab to launch its orbital debris removal demo mission in 2023

Rocket Lab announced that it signed a dedicated launch contract with Astroscale Japan, a subsidiary of Astroscale, for orbital debris removal.An American company, Rocket Lab is a leader in space systems and launch services. Astroscale works on satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability.Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will launch the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan satellite (ADRAS-J) from its Launch Complex 1 in 2023. The satellite has been chosen by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for the first phase of the agency’s Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration Project (CRD2).[caption id="attachment_9990091" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Illustration of Astroscale's orbital debris removal satellite. Image credit: Astroscale[/caption]Rocket Lab founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Beck said that the ability to remove space debris from orbit is likely to play a big role in creating a sustainable environment for the future. He added that the task is a complex one, which requires “absolute precision when it comes to orbital deployment. Electron’s Kick Stage has demonstrated this precision across 18 missions, providing in-space transportation to place our customers’ satellites exactly where they need to go”.After Electron’s Kick Stage deploys it to a precise orbit, the ADRAS-J satellite will rendezvous with a piece of orbital debris. It aims to demonstrate proximity operations, while obtaining pictures of the debris, an abandoned upper stage rocket body. The ADRAS-J will also deliver observational data to gain better knowledge of the debris environment.The second phase of the mission aims to show the de-orbit of the debris.Nobu Okada, Founder and CEO of Astroscale said that commercially viable and reliable vehicles like the Electron rocket will allow the company to advance its on-orbit services, which are crucial to the growth of the space economy and infrastructure.Last month, Astroscale had previously successfully demonstrated the removal of space debris through its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission. The ELSA-d was successful in using a magnetic system for capturing and releasing a client spacecraft.The unused man-made junk revolving in the Earth’s orbit, also known as space debris, poses a risk of collision with other satellites.Astroscale is just one of the several companies working on the removal of this debris. The European Space Agency (ESA) got into a 86 million Euro contract with Swiss start-up ClearSpace SA in 2020 to bring back a large piece of orbital trash to the planet. The Clearspace-1 is scheduled to launch in 2025 to bring back the Vespa (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter), which itself was used to capture and release a satellite in 2013.