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Astroscale Japan has released stunning new images of space debris in Earth’s orbit.
The Tokyo-based company launched its Active Debris Removal Spacecraft (ADRAS-J) atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket on Feb. 18, 2024. ADRAS-J is designed to test safe methods of approaching and inspecting space debris in orbit through what’s known as rendezvous and proximity operations, or RPO.
To test the spacecraft’s capabilities, Astroscale sent ADRAS-J to photograph the abandoned upper stage of a Japanese H-2A rocket launched in 2009. The company released a statement on July 9 showing a new image of the debris as it floats lifelessly above a blue and white Earth with the sun’s glare reflecting off it.
ADRAS-J took the photo in June 2024, just 50 meters from the bus-sized H-2A upper stage, which is about 11 meters long and weighs 3 tons.
In addition to taking pictures of space debris, ADRAS-J used the RPO with the upper stage disabled to demonstrate its collision avoidance system, which includes autonomous operations. In fact, during the close approach of the rocket body, Astroscale’s spacecraft initiated an autonomous abort when it experienced an attitude (orientation) anomaly.
ADRAS-J was then able to maneuver away from the debris, a capability that demonstrates that the spacecraft “can maintain safety even while conducting close-approach observations of non-cooperative objects,” Astroscale wrote in the statement.
Remote proximity operations such as these are delicate maneuvers, as many pieces of space debris such as the H-2A upper stage are not designed for such missions.
Astroscale has high hopes for ADRAS-J. When this phase of the mission, known as Commercial Debris Removal Demonstration (CRD2) is coming to an end, the company plans to move on to a new phase funded by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in which it plans to remove and deorbit a large piece of “non-cooperative” space debris — that is, a piece that was not designed with such a deorbit mission in mind.
“This next phase is of particular importance in solving the space debris problem and laying the foundation for a sustainable environment for future generations,” Eddie Kato, president of Astroscale Japan, said in a statement. previous statement.
Phase 2 of the CRD2 mission is expected to begin no earlier than 2026.