Astroscale Sets New Milestone with Space Debris Removal Technology

A photo taken by Astroscale's satellite ADRAS-J as it performed a 360-degree rotation around space debris in low Earth orbit. / Astroscale

Astroscale announced on July 30 that its space debris observation satellite, ADRAS-J, successfully conducted a close observation of the upper stage of the H2A rocket launched in 2009.

On July 15 and 16, ADRAS-J photographed the 11-meter-long rocket debris from a distance of 50 meters, confirming that the debris remains in a very intact state.

Astroscale commented that this achievement represents an "unprecedented technical milestone for a private company."

ADRAS-J was launched into low Earth orbit at an altitude of 600 km on February 18 as part of a mission contracted with the Japanese government.

The goal is to closely approach the upper stage of the H2A rocket to investigate its characteristics and then launch a follow-up satellite to dock with the rocket debris and guide it into Earth's atmosphere for disintegration.

In addition to this, Astroscale is pursuing various on-orbit service missions with the U.S. government, U.S. Space Force, and the U.K. government.

Notably, in 2025, the ELSA-M mission aims to deorbit OneWeb's decommissioned communication satellites, and in 2026, the company plans to conduct the Life Extension In-Orbit (LEXI) mission in collaboration with Orbit Fab, refueling geostationary satellites.

Furthermore, in 2023, Astroscale signed a $25.5 million contract with the U.S. Space Force to develop an on-orbit refueling satellite.