Astroscale UK Wins Contract for Final Phase of ELSA-M Demonstration
by Sophie Jenkins
London, UK (SPX) Jul 23, 2024

Astroscale Ltd ("Astroscale UK"), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. ("Astroscale"), has secured EUR 13.95 million (approximately USD 15 million or GBP 11.78 million) from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency ("ESA") for the final phase of the End-of-Life by Astroscale-Multiple (ELSA-M) in-orbit demonstration.

The funding follows a contract with Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the Sunrise Partnership Project, a public-private collaboration between ESA and the Eutelsat Group.

The Sunrise Partnership Project, within ESA's Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) programme, focuses on developing solutions for next-generation telecommunication satellite missions. Both ARTES and Sunrise receive support from the UK Space Agency.

Scheduled to launch by April 2026, ELSA-M will be the first commercial end-of-life service for prepared satellites-those designed with docking and removal technologies. This mission, created by Astroscale UK at Harwell Campus in Oxford, builds on the capabilities demonstrated by ELSA-d, which launched in 2021 and validated Astroscale's end-of-life technologies with in-orbit demonstrations, including magnetic capture and close-approach rendezvous operations.

ELSA-M Phase 4 encompasses flight model assembly, integration and testing, launch and commissioning, in-orbit demonstration activities, and operations for docking, de-orbiting, and releasing the Eutelsat OneWeb client spacecraft.

Astroscale UK's achievement underscores its dedication to sustainable space operations and sets the stage for the future of space sustainability and satellite servicing.

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