Astroscale orbital janitor gets within 15 meters of space junk

Japanese orbital janitor Astroscale says it has completed the closest ever approach by a commercial operator to space junk when it came within 15 meters of a defunct upper stage rocket.

The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration – an initiative focused on demonstrating the ability to approach and perform detailed observations of the organization’s H-IIA rocket.

But on Wednesday, Astroscale clarified that a November 30 approach to the uppers stage was not a part of JAXA mission requirements, but rather “an ambitious goal independently designed by Astroscale.”

“The objective was to demonstrate highly precise and complex close-range RPO [Rendezvous and Proximity Operations] capabilities by advancing to the Capture Initiation Point (CIP), where future debris removal missions start robotic capture operations,” the biz explained.

Those robotic capture operations are a part of Phase II of the project. Astroscale was also awarded that initiative under a ¥12 billion ($81.4 million) five-year contract that it’s hoped will serve as a proof of concept for commercial space junk disposal services.

Astroscale said it had aligned the ADRAS-J spacecraft with the planned capture point from a distance of 50 meters, and closed to 15 meter range, but an unexpected issue with the relative attitude of the upper stage triggered the onboard collision avoidance system and caused ADRAS-J to maneuver away. The cause of the abort is under investigation.

• Starfish Space to tackle orbital junk for NASA with SSPICY Otter
• Before we put half a million broadband satellites in orbit, anyone want to consider environmental effects?
• Japanese robot space maid will incinerate Earth’s dead satellites
• China preps another rocket that Beijing hopes will become its workhorse

While many spacecraft have had close encounters with the estimated million-plus pieces of space debris – many large enough to cause catastrophic damage – Astroscale’s ADRAS-J is the first to intentionally approach a big piece of orbiting trash.

Other attempts have been made to capture objects in space – such as the University of Surrey’s RemoveDEBRIS mission. However, that mission used nets and other means to collect simulated debris – objects it released itself – instead of actual space junk. In 2017, JAXA’s Kounotori 6 cargo spacecraft deployed a tether as part of a debris removal test, but technical issues scuppered its success.

Other missions targeting space junk removal are planned for the future as the amount of debris is only expected to escalate. The European Space Agency’s ClearSpace-1 is scheduled for a 2026 mission to remove the Vega Secondary Payload Adapter left in orbit by a 2013 mission.

NASA contracted Starfish Space in September to rendezvous with, dock, service, or deorbit defunct US satellites remaining in Earth’s orbit as part of a mission to reduce orbital debris. ®