Japan leads the race to remove space debris. He just placed a garbage satellite 50 meters from an old rocket

Although the problem of space debris has been increasing for decades, until now no company had approached old debris in orbit. Japanese company Astroscale is leading the effort.

Inspecting space junk up close. The ADRAS-J (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) satellite marks a new milestone in the fight against space debris. Built by Astroscale in collaboration with the Japanese agency JAXA, this 150 kg satellite has the mission of approaching, inspecting and removing debris from space.

Astroscale launched ADRAS-J on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on February 18. On April 17, the satellite was placed within a few hundred meters of its target: the second stage of an H-IIA rocket launched in 2009. On May 23, ADRAS-J came within 50 meters of the giant piece of space junk.

The first photos of this type. ADRAS-J used its twelve boosters to closely inspect the rocket’s cryogenic stage. It is the first time that a satellite approaches an old rocket in orbit and takes photos of the abandoned object, a complex and risky maneuver.

Japan is now leading these efforts, but it is not alone. Swiss company ClearSpace plans to launch its ClearSpace-1 mission in 2026 to capture and deorbit the European PROBA 1 satellite.

Earth’s orbit is a dump. With more than 34,000 objects larger than 10 cm floating uncontrollably, low Earth orbit has become a dumping ground. As space launches multiply, the number of abandoned satellites and rockets also increases, increasing the risk of collision.

The worst case scenario is Kessler syndrome, which predicts a chain reaction of collisions. If two pieces of space debris fragment into multiple pieces when they collide, these fragments can in turn collide with other objects, creating more debris, and so on.

A risk for astronauts and access to space. Space debris can remain in orbit for centuries, especially at altitudes above 900 kilometers. To combat the problem, it’s crucial to start with the big pieces, like rocket upper stages, which actually only make up 11% of orbital debris.

In a business-as-usual scenario, within a few decades collisions between orbital debris will become commonplace.

Image | Astroscale

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