Astroscale Japan Wins Contract to Inspect Defunct Satellite in Orbit
Astroscale Japan has been chosen by the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (“MEXT”) to send a spacecraft into orbit in order to inspect a derelict satellite. The mission is being funded by MEXT’s Small and Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop in-orbit spacecraft inspection as a proven capability.
“The grant from MEXT is to develop an on-orbit inspection demonstration mission that will image and diagnose a large, defunct satellite in space,” Alison Howlett, Astroscale Japan’s Lead Global Marketing & Communications, told SpaceRef. Mission development is now underway, with the deadline for flight set at March 2028.
The Astroscale Japan project is divided into three phases. This first phase is worth up to $18 million, with the company receiving up to $80 million for achieving all three. According to the company, the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft is the world’s first attempt to safely approach, characterize and survey the state of an existing piece of large debris through Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO).
“This MEXT-funded mission will further advance Astroscale’s heritage RPO capabilities, in addition to inspection and characterization capabilities for a diverse range of active spacecraft and large debris objects in space,” Howlett told SpaceRef.
“We will not be removing the satellite from orbit for this particular mission,” Howlett added. “Phase II, which is yet to be contracted, will involve removing the rocket body from orbit.”
Astroscale’s plan to tackle orbital debris
MEXT’s SBIR program is designed to promote research and development for Japanese startups and organizations engaged in advancing innovative technologies, and to support market applications of their results with government support. Astroscale Japan was selected in the space category for its ‘Development and Demonstration of Technologies and Systems for Removing Satellites and Other Objects from Orbit’ project, which aligned with SBIR’s ‘Development and Demonstration of Technologies Required for Space Debris Reduction’ theme.
In addition to the MEXT-funded mission, the Astroscale Japan team is working on a similar project in partnership with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program. In this mission, ADRAS-J will inspect an H2A upper stage rocket body. It will use its RPO methods and high-performance cameras to assess the rocket body’s condition, including spin rate, spin axis, and condition of the structure.
That’s not all. “Our UK team is working with the UK Space Agency to clean up space and is developing an innovative solution based on Astroscale’s heritage on-orbit technologies,” said Howlett. “The COSMIC mission — Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture will harness our Rendezvous and Proximity Operations and robotic debris capture capabilities to remove two defunct British satellites currently orbiting Earth by 2026.”
Howlett added that Astroscale France has secured a partnership with CNES (Le site du Centre national d’études spatiales), which involves funding a study on active debris removal of French space debris, which will be determined by 2024.
