Everyone I know seems to be thinking about reducing clutter these days. Some company in my area markets that they will clear everything out of your house, and take care of dumping what needs to be dumped, recycling what can be recycled, selling what can be sold, and donating what can be donated. Why didn’t I think of that? I would love doing that, and even better, getting paid for doing it.
But, what about junk and clutter which not in your house, or for that matter, not even on this earth. It turns out, space junk, or space debris is a pretty serious problem. Yamamoto Toru explains “This mounting volume of space debris could hit and damage satellites operating in space, so satellites are forced to avoid collisions as they operate and safe space activities are hindered. It is even possible that we could someday find it difficult to engage in any space activity whatsoever. This is why we need space debris control.”
Astroscale Japan Inc., a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc., is working with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) on a project called CDRS2 (Commercial Debris Removal Demonstration.) There is a two-phased approach to CRD2. Phase 1 of CDR2 involves demonstrating the ability to survey a target piece of space debris. Later, Phase 2 will involve removing that piece of Space Debris from Space. The docking, capture, and removal in Phase 2 can only happen after we gain sufficient knowledge of the satellite characteristics, which would occur during operations like those demonstrated in Phase 1.
Astroscale Japan successfully launched its Phase 1 Satellite, ADRAS-J ( Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) on February 18, 2024.
Recently, Astroscale Japan released the following UPDATE for the ongoing mission…”After an excellent start to on-orbit operations, Astroscale Japan has begun the rendezvous operations phase of its ADRAS-J mission today, February 22 at approximately 11:00 am UTC. In this phase, the operations team based in Japan and the UK will use ADRAS-J’s propulsion system to start maneuvering towards the client orbit. This initial rendezvous phase requires careful planning of several orbit raising maneuvers to ensure accurate, precise and safe approach to the client.” You can keep up with this mission at News & Resources – Astroscale, Securing Space Sustainability .
This is an exciting operation for all those involved in the mission, but for all of us too. A long-term plan for reducing space junk is long overdue, and most welcome.
Representatives from both Astroscale and Applied Technology Institute will be attending Satellite 2024 in Washington DC during the week of March 18.
If you want to learn more about Astroscale, drop by their booth on the floor of the Exhibit Hall.
ATI offers a wide range of Space-related short-courses. If you want to learn more about ATI ( www.aticourses.com ) and how we can help you with you and your company with your Training Needs, we would be happy to meet with you over coffee at the conference. Email me at bob@aticourses.com and we can schedule a time and place to talk.