Astroscale Selected for a New Active Debris Removal Mission

In a press release shared on April 25, 2024, Astroscale Japan announced they were selected for Phase II of JAXA’s Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2) Program.

The company will continue the work started with Phase I by the ADRAS-J spacecraft, which rendezvoused a few days ago with a large Japanese upper-stage rocket.

The new spacecraft, ADRAS-J2, will be equipped with the same technologies tested on its predecessor, adding an in-house-built robotic arm to dock with the unprepared debris, remove it from its orbit, and make it burn in the atmosphere.

📢 NEWS: ADRAS-J's legacy continues! Astroscale Japan has been selected for Phase II of JAXA's Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration.

ADRAS-J2 will be tasked with removing a rocket upper stage from orbit, addressing the critical space debris issue.https://t.co/MGKvZ3AcnQ
— Astroscale (@astroscale_HQ) April 25, 2024

ADRAS-J, the key technology demonstrator for CRD2

Launched on February 18, 2024, on top of a Rocket Lab’s Electron, ADRAS-J has been constructed to fulfill the objectives of CRD2 Phase I: to safely approach, characterize, and survey the state of an existing piece of large orbital debris.

“The envisioned target is the upper stage of a rocket previously launched by Japan. We selected this target because it is a large piece of space debris and there are many similarly shaped (cylindrical) pieces on the list. If we are successful, we expect to be able to apply these techniques to the removal of similarly-shaped space debris.”
— Yamamoto Toru, CRD2 Team Leader, JAXA.

Artistic impression of ADRAS-J approaching H-2H upper stage in orbit. Credits: Astroscale — *Artistic impression of ADRAS-J approaching H-2A upper stage in orbit. Credits: Astroscale*

In April 2024, the spacecraft performed several rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) using the Angles-Only Navigation, a method to estimate relative position and velocity through the on-board cameras, and then the Model Matching Navigation, using information such as the shape and arrangement of the debris from ADRAS-J IRCam.

*H-2A rocket upper stage image taken by Astroscale’s ADRAS-J. Credits: Astroscale.*

The RPO worked as expected, and ADRAS-J took the first picture of a space debris reached with this navigation method.

Astroscale mission is getting traction

The Japanese space company was founded in 2013 with a clear mission: “Develop innovative technologies, advance business cases, and inform international policies that reduce orbital debris and support long-term, sustainable use of space.”

They developed ADRAS-J to remove unprepared debris, and the ELSA-M solution to offer a planned deorbit and manage the end of life for satellites.

Thanks to a specific ferromagnetic docking plate installed on a satellite, the ELSA servicer spacecraft can approach and easily dock with the client satellite, then change its orbit to burn in the atmosphere within the commonly adopted guidelines. Astroscale demonstrated the functionalities of the ELSA platform with the ELSA-d mission, which concluded successfully in January 2024.

*ELSA-d servicer and client spacecraft, artistic rendering. Credits: Astroscale.*

The company is capitalizing on the heritage of ELSA-d and ELSA-M by developing the Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture (COSMIC) project, which completed the Preliminary Design Review phase on April 22, 2024.

Astroscale aims to launch COSMIC in 2026 and remove two defunct British satellites currently orbiting Earth.