Commercial space clean-up service could be ready in 2024

[Judi Lynn]

By Tereza Pultarova - Senior Writer about 13 hours ago

A space junk removal truck could start picking up dead satellites in 2024.



Astroscale cooperates with megaconstellation operator OneWeb on the development of commercial space debris removal technology. (Image credit: Astroscale)

Japan-headquartered space services company Astroscale, which recently launched its ELSA-d space debris removal demonstrator, might be ready to start cleaning up the mess in Earth's orbit by 2024.

The company, which has offices in the U.K., U.S., Israel and Singapore, has signed a $3.5 million deal with would-be megaconstellation operator OneWeb to work together on advancing debris-removal technology. OneWeb currently operates over 180 satellites in a constellation meant to reach about 650 satellites, but has asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve over 6,300 satellites in its "Phase Two" strategy. OneWeb is partially owned by the British government.

Plans of companies such as OneWeb, SpaceX and Amazon to launch constellations of thousands of satellites cause serious concerns in the global space flight community as the already cluttered orbital environment is at risk of becoming overcrowded. Satellite operators already report a growing number of situations when two satellites come close to colliding. OneWeb's cooperation with Astroscale might help attenuate some of the concerns.

"This partnership with OneWeb demonstrates their commitment to space sustainability and is the next step towards maturing our technologies to develop a full-service debris removal offering by 2024," John Auburn, managing director of Astroscale U.K. and group chief commercial officer said in a statement.

More:
https://www.space.com/commercial-space-debris-removal-2024-astroscale

[SCantiGOP]

1. Very critical issue

Don’t think we want to go back to a world workout GPS.