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JOHANNESBURG – The European Space Agency (ESA) has finalized a € 86 million ($ 104 million) contract with Swiss start-up ClearSpace SA to carry out the world’s first space debris clearance mission.
ClearSpace-1 represents the first space debris removal that is not a demonstration mission, ESA Director General Jan Wörner told a December 1 press briefing. The payload adapter that ClearSpace-1 intends to recover is active space debris, something that is much more difficult to recover than a stable target, he added.
“With space debris, by definition, no such control is possible: instead, objects are adrift, often flipping randomly,” Wörner said. “This first capture and elimination of a non-cooperative space object is therefore an extremely difficult achievement.”
ESA officials signed a contract with ClearSpace on November 13 to complete the safe deorbitation of a payload adapter launched aboard the second flight of the Arianespace Vega rocket in 2013.
Unlike traditional ESA contracts which involve the agency to purchase and coordinate the mission, ClearSpace-1 is a contract to purchase a service: the safe removal of space debris. ESA officials said their intention was to help establish a new business sector led by European industry.
The 86 million euros provided by ESA will be supplemented by an additional 24 million euros that ClearSpace is raising from commercial investors. About € 14 million of private funding will be used for the mission, while the remaining 10 million will be set aside for contingencies, ESA spokeswoman Valeria Andreoni said. News.
In addition to the partial purchase cost, ESA will provide key technology for the mission developed by the agency’s Clean Space initiative as part of its active debris disposal / in-orbit maintenance project. The technology to be supplied includes advanced guidance, navigation and control systems, vision-based AI and robotic arms to capture the target object.
The 112 kilogram secondary payload adapter Vega (Vespa) to be recovered is located in orbit around the Earth in an orbit of approximately 801 by 664 kilometers. The object was selected because it matches the approximate size and weight of a small satellite, an initial target market for ClearSpace’s debris disposal service.
The 500-kilogram ClearSpace-1 spacecraft is slated to launch aboard a Vega-C rocket in 2025. The spacecraft includes cameras, radar and LIDAR for navigation, and four articulated tentacles designed to capture the object. target.
Once launched, the ClearSpace-1 spacecraft will be deployed to a 500-kilometer orbit for commissioning and testing. The spacecraft will then be elevated to target orbit for rendezvous and capture. While much of this process is automated, a series of go / no go points will lead to the capture.
Once the target object has been captured, the ClearSpace-1 spacecraft drags itself and its payload into a destructive orbit to burn in the atmosphere.
ClearSpace CEO Luc Piguet said that after the completion of ClearSpace-1, the company plans to undertake a series of increasingly ambitious follow-up missions. The company’s goal is to get to the point where a single spacecraft can capture multiple objects, which would reduce costs and make the service more affordable.
ClearSpace has been in contact with a number of satellite constellation operators, including OneWeb and Iridium, Piquet said. However, the company has not yet received any commitments for its services.
The 86 million euros in funding for ClearSpace-1 was allocated at the Space19 + Ministerial Council held in Seville, Spain, a year ago. Funding was led by Switzerland as the home country of ClearSpaceSA, the prime contractor, with the UK, Germany, Portugal, Poland and Sweden as other major contributors.
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