Once deployed into orbit, the spacecraft will utilize robotic arms to capture a section of debris left behind by a previous rocket. On its return journey to Earth, both the spacecraft and the debris will be safely destroyed through controlled atmospheric reentry.
Swiss startup ClearSpace has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as the contractor to carry out this groundbreaking mission.
This project will launch a spacecraft likened to a tugboat into an orbit at an altitude of 500 km. The spacecraft will then seek out and dock with the payload adapter left in space after it separated from a European Space Agency rocket in 2013.
Over the past 60 years, humans have launched over 5,500 objects into space, leaving approximately 42,000 pieces of debris in orbit, with about 23,000 being regularly tracked.
This space debris includes expired satellites, rocket components, and fragments from explosions or collisions in orbit.
Scientists have previously warned about the rapidly increasing amount of debris surrounding our planet, posing a significant danger by potentially causing catastrophic collisions that can disrupt functioning satellites in orbit.
If left unchecked, the incidents caused by space debris could cripple communication systems and render certain areas of space inaccessible. Some experts even compare the accumulation of debris to a trap that humans are getting caught in on Earth, as launching rockets into space would become excessively hazardous.
The ClearSpace-1 spacecraft will be deployed at an altitude of 500 km, where it will approach and capture the Vespa payload adapter left behind by the Vega Arianespace rocket in 2013. Vespa weighs 112 kg, equivalent to a small rocket. ClearSpace-1 will rendezvous with and “grapple” Vespa before both entities depart from orbit and safely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
ClearSpace-1 will be the world’s first orbital debris removal project, often compared to a tugboat for space junk.
ESA and ClearSpace leaders will convene a roundtable meeting to discuss further details of the project. Last year, Luc Piguet, the founder of ClearSpace, warned about the threats posed by space debris, emphasizing that now is the opportune time to undertake this cleanup initiative as the issue of space debris is more pressing than ever. “We currently have nearly 2,000 operational satellites and over 3,000 defunct satellites in orbit.”