Astroscale Japan to lead Phase II of JAXA's Space Debris Removal Initiative
by Riko Seibo
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 22, 2024

Astroscale Japan Inc. ("Astroscale Japan"), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. ("Astroscale"), has been awarded a contract by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to lead Phase II of JAXA's Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2) program. This program is among the first global initiatives aimed at demonstrating the removal of large-scale debris from Earth's orbit. The contract is valued at around 13 billion yen, including taxes.

The CRD2 program targets the removal of an unprepared Japanese upper stage rocket body, addressing the growing and serious problem of space debris. These unprepared objects in orbit are particularly challenging as they lack docking, servicing, or removal-ready technologies.

Astroscale Japan was also selected for Phase I of the program, where the company designed, manufactured, tested, launched, and operated the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) mission. ADRAS-J is the first mission globally to safely approach, characterize, and survey the status of a large piece of debris using rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO). This mission involved safely approaching a bus-sized object in orbit and gathering images and data to evaluate its movement and structural integrity.

The next spacecraft in the ADRAS-J series, ADRAS-J2, will build on this work by safely approaching the same rocket body using RPO, capturing further images, and then removing and deorbiting the rocket body with Astroscale's proprietary robotic arm technologies.

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