“Rendezvousing with a piece of debris on orbit, travelling at around 27,000 km per hour, is a highly complex task that requires absolute precision when it comes to orbital deployment. Mr Beck stated that this mission will demonstrate immense technological skill. Phase II, which is still being planned, intends to see ADRAS-J demonstrate de-orbiting of the debris. There, ADRAS-J aims to demonstrate proximity operations and obtain images of the rocket body, gathering observational data to better understand the debris environment. ADRAS-J will then rendezvous with a piece of space junk - a long-abandoned upper stage rocket body. Phase I, to be launched in 2023, will consist of the satellite being deployed by the Electron rocket, Rocket Lab’s prime launch vehicle. While there are several methods being explored for cleaning space junk, Astroscale Japan, founded in 2013, is the only company solely dedicated to on-orbit servicing across all orbits.Īstroscale’s space junk solutions include life-extension, in-situ space situational awareness, end-of-life services, and active debris removal in order to increase the sustainability of space systems and mitigate the hazardous build-up of debris in space.Īstroscale, teaming up with Rocket Lab, will complete several mission phases to test their ADRAS-J satellite. With the skies becoming ever more crowded by satellites and debris, space junk cleaning technology like the ADRAS-J from Astroscale are becoming all the more important. “Rocket Lab and Astroscale have become leaders in our respective markets and I am thrilled to collaborate on ADRAS-J, a groundbreaking mission that will shape the technologies and policies needed to drive space sustainability forward.” “Reliable and commercially viable launch vehicles like Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket enable frequent and flexible access to space, allowing us to advance our on-orbit services which are fundamental to the growth of the space infrastructure and economy,” he said. Nobu Okada, Founder and CEO of Astroscale stated that he looks forward to working with Rocket Lab to launch and test ADRAS-J.

Shape rocket cleaner