Japanese space development company Astroscale has been awarded a $90 million contract to deorbit the bus-sized rocket stage by the end of the decade.
This pioneering project was led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) is Astroscale’s ADRAS-J Missionrecently completed an in-orbit thorough inspection of the 12-year-old upper stage of Japan’s H-2A rocket.
The new mission, called ADRAS-J2, will use a robotic arm to grab a 3-ton, 36-foot-long (11-meter) rocket stage and Earth’s atmosphere It burned up, demonstrating an important space purification technology.
The H-2A upper stage has been orbiting at an altitude of 370 miles (600 kilometers) since its deployment. Greenhouse gasesThe observation satellite GOSAT was launched in 2009. rocket A celestial body in near-Earth space.
The out-of-control state and age of the rocket body will make removal extremely difficult, but an inspection by ADRAS-J found that the rocket’s payload adapter, which is used to grab the rocket, was intact.
“Unprepared objects in orbit pose additional challenges as the technology to enable docking and potential repair or removal is not prepared,” Astroscale said. statement.
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The out-of-control state and age of the rocket body will make removal extremely difficult, but an inspection by ADRAS-J found that the rocket’s payload adapter, which is used to grab the rocket, was intact.
“Unprepared objects in orbit pose additional challenges as the technology to enable docking and potential repair or removal is not prepared,” Astroscale said. statement.
Astroscale has two other Space debris Planning for the removal mission is underway. In July, the Tokyo-based company Contract with satellite communications operator Eutelsat OneWeb OneWeb satellites equipped with magnetic docking plates will be removed from orbit in 2027.
Another concept spacecraft from Astroscale, featuring a robotic arm, is currently being tested by the UK Space Agency on two older British satellite.
The ADRAS-J2 mission could launch as early as 2027. Space Allocation Number Authority. European Space Agency (European Space Agency(ClearSpace) is also working on a mission aimed at removing space junk, but this mission, called ClearSpace 1, will target the much smaller, 207-pound (94-kilogram) Prova 1 satellite. ClearSpace 1 was originally intended to remove the 247-pound (112-kilogram) payload adapter from the European satellite. Vega RocketHowever, ESA decided to switch to Proba-1 after its original target was damaged in an orbital collision in August 2023. This mission will not be launched before 2028.
Astroscale also tested some of its key technologies in a project called ELSA-M, a mission that wrapped up in January that used a magnetic system to repeatedly capture simulated space debris.
Space debris is a major concern for the space industry. According to the ESAThere are approximately 40,500 pieces of space junk larger than 4 inches (10 cm) floating around in space. This includes old satellites, used rocket stages, and objects discarded from space. International Space Station These include debris from impacts and explosions. In addition, there are 1.1 million objects measuring 0.4 to 4 inches (1 to 10 cm) scattered in near-Earth space. The number of objects smaller than 0.4 inches (1 cm) is estimated to be over 130 million.
This debris orbits the Earth at incredible speeds, threatening to damage anything in its path. On the riseExperts fear that a collision may soon become unavoidable, because only larger pieces of space junk are visible to radar on Earth.
Collisions between large pieces of space junk are a particular concern because they create so much debris that many sustainability experts say aggressive space junk removal is essential to keeping the space environment safe for future operations. Kessler syndromewhich may be unavailable for decades.
