TOKYO – Japanese startup Astroscale launched a satellite Monday designed to guide us in a time of stable space flight by locating and locating used satellites and other space debris. The six-month demonstration project is the first of its kind with a commercial satellite operator.
The Astroscale Debris Removal Spacecraft, known as the Astroscale Demonstration End of Life Services, or Elsa-D, was launched on a Russian-built Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The rocket is operated by GK Launch Services, a Russian company known for its reliability and cost. The Elsa-D will be run from a UK control center
The launch is a “trip-sharing” mission, with a payload of multiple satellites – the main one from South Korea, a few belonging to Axelspace Japan and one for Astroscale. The Astroscale satellite will detonate the rocket later Monday.
Astroscale CEO Nobu Okada said his engineers will be busier now: checking signals from the satellite, making sure he has the right view towards Earth, activating the solar panels and so on. The company’s general manager, Miki Ito, said it is just a relief to see that the rocket was successfully launched after a two-day delay.
There are about 25,000 pieces of space debris in Earth’s orbit. This debris is created when satellites go dead, crash, or when spent rocket boosters stay in orbit instead of repeating the Earth ‘s atmosphere and burning up.
The debris is a threat to about 3,000 satellites now operating in space. It is also a threat to the International Space Station, which has six astronauts on board.
The need for cleaning becomes sharper as more satellites are launched. Okada says an additional 46,000 satellites are expected to be launched in the next 10 years, as companies like SpaceX and Amazon, both of the US, are setting up an internet constella and start offering space tourism. Okada says its goal is to make Astroscale a pioneer in environmentally sustainable space flight.
“We’re an environmental company,” said Chris Blackerby, Astroscale’s chief operating officer. “Orbit is just another natural resource, just like forests, rivers and oceans. If we don’t clean it, there will be problems.”
Astroscale was founded in 2013 by Okada, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant, who has been interested in space since participating in a U.S. youth space camp at the age of 15. The company has 180 employees. he now has, half Japanese and half non-Japanese, in Japan, the United States, the UK, Israel and Singapore.
The 175 kg Elsa-D enters orbit with 17 kg of false debris. After spending the first month or two preparing for the mission, he will do three different test moves.
This artist’s exhibition shows how the Astroscale spacecraft discovers space debris, pushes it into the Earth’s atmosphere and burns it up. (Image courtesy of Astroscale)
Elsa-D will move towards the test debris using GPS information, estimate its exact location and conduct sensor-driven monitoring. It then determines a path to approach the space debris and latches it on using a magnetic dock plate before it is released to make another capture motion.
The recovery operation is very different from a normal approach between the International Space Station and a supply ship, where two spacecraft communicate with each other. Dead satellites and other space debris have no fuel or other means. They are adrift and out of control, making it harder for a cleaning satellite to capture them.
In his first move, Elsa-D gently releases the test debris and then captures it. In the second, the debris is removed, asking the spacecraft to move in line with it. The third move mimics a real mission, with the debris removed, prompting the Elsa-D to locate and locate it.
Astroscale earns revenue by selling its services to satellite operators. One of the messengers is OneWeb, a satellite constellation operator. OneWeb satellites are already equipped with an Astroscale docking plate that allows them to be towed away if they go on haywire.
Astroscale is also working with the Japan Space Research Group to develop technology to assemble a large rocket stage. Another project is to develop a spacecraft that can collect several pieces of debris at once and a maintenance service for satellites in orbit.
Other companies are also working to provide place sanitation services. In Japan, Sky Perfect JSAT is looking to use lasers to change satellite orbit at the end of its life and put it into the atmosphere. Switzerland’s start-up ClearSpace has been commissioned by the European Space Agency to run a debris removal test in 2025.