ClearSpace-1

The ClearSpace-1 (ClearSpace One) mission is an ESA Space Debris Removal mission led by ClearSpace SA, a Swiss startup company. The mission's objective is to remove a VESPA (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter) from orbit. The mission aims to demonstrate technologies for rendezvous, capture, and deorbit for end-of-life satellites and to build a path to space junk remediation.[1][2] Destructive reentry will destroy both the captured satellites and itself.[3]

Overview

In 2019, the company won a tender for a European Space Agency Space Safety program contract in the Active Debris Removal/In-Orbit Servicing (ADRIOS) project. It will target the VESPA payload adapter from the 2013 Vega flight VV02 for de-orbiting.[4] The mission contract, worth 86 million euros, was signed in November 2020.[5] As of May 2023, ClearSpace-1 is expected to be launched in the second half of 2026 on a Vega-C launch vehicle.[6]

The VESPA adapter that ClearSpace-1 aims to capture is the size of a washing machine and weighs about 112 kilograms.[7] ClearSpace-1's device has been described as a four-armed "space claw" that will grip VESPA and steer it back into the Earth's atmosphere, where both will be destroyed via destructive reentry.[8] On 22 August 2023, the European Space Agency announced that the VESPA adapter had likely hit by a small piece of space debris earlier in the month, resulting in the creation of several additional pieces of trackable debris.[9]

Other attempts

The ClearSpace-1 mission was preceded by e.Deorbit, a space debris removal mission under planning by ESA in 2010s. In the end, the e.Deorbit mission was not implemented, the satellite was not built and the whole e.Deorbit mission was cancelled. ClearSpace-1 continues the ESA space debris removal aspirations.

Tokyo-based Astroscale is a space debris removal company testing a removal device called End-of-Life Services (ELSA-d) that successfully demonstrated many of the key technologies required for space debris removal in 2021 and 2022, including demonstrating magnetic docking with a client in 2021 and close approach RPO in 2022 and ELSA-d is now in its de-orbiting phase.[10][11][12]

In 2022, the UK Space Agency awarded £4 million to ClearSpace-1 and Astroscale to remove non-operational British satellites by 2026.[13]

References
  1. McGlaun, Shane (27 November 2020). "ESA signs contract with ClearSpace to clean up space debris". Retrieved 27 November 2020. ClearSpace SA will launch the first active debris removal mission known as ClearSpace-1
  2. Coxworth, Ben (7 July 2015). "EPFL's CleanSpace One satellite will "eat" space junk". Gizmag. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. Volpe, Joseph (16 February 2012). "EPFL's CleanSpace One: clearing up cosmic clutter (video)". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ESA commissions world’s first space debris removal
  5. "Call for Media: ESA and ClearSpace SA sign contract for world's first debris removal mission". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2020-12-01.
  6. Rainbow, Jason (9 May 2023). "ClearSpace books Vega C for 2026 de-orbit mission". SpaceNews. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  7. "Europe plans space claw to capture orbiting junk". www.science.org. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  8. "European Space Agency is sending a giant claw into orbit to clean up space junk". CNET. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  9. Foust, Jeff (22 August 2023). "Target of European debris removal mission hit by other debris". SpaceNews. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  10. Roulette, Joey (2023-03-03). "As space junk threat grows, government and investors seek solutions". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  11. Tereza, Pultarova (2022-05-06). "Astroscale space junk removal satellite nearly catches target in orbital test". Space.com. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
  12. Stoehr, Alyssa (2023-06-17). "Statement on ELSA-d De-Orbit Plan". Astroscale. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
  13. Sindreu, Jon (11 November 2022). "The Difficult Search for Dangerous Space Junk". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
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