All About Space - UK (2020-02)

ClearSpace-1

Thechaser

The‘chaser’isClearSpace-1’s

four-armedrobotthatistasked

withcatchingspacedebrisand

draggingitbacktoEarth.

©Adrian

Mann

Vespa

ThisparticularpieceofEuropean

spacejunkwaschosenbecauseofits

shapeandsturdiness,ensuringthatit

won’tbreakupafterbeingseized.

at an average speed of around 36,000 kilometres
(22,370 miles) per hour. This puts the lives of
astronauts at risk.
“The space debris issue is more pressing than
ever before,” says Luc Piguet, founder and CEO
of ClearSpace, the Swiss junk-removal start-up
partnering with the ESA. “Today we have nearly
2,000 live satellites in space and more than
3,000 failed ones. And in the coming years the
number of satellites will increase by an order of
magnitude, with multiple mega-constellations
made up of hundreds or even thousands of
satellites planned for low-Earth orbit.”

This mission, scheduled to launch in

2025, will involve launching the ClearSpace-1

‘chaser’ satellite into low-Earth orbit, where it

will rendezvous with a piece of space debris

named Vespa. The defunct junk’s full name is

the ‘Vega Secondary Payload Adapter’, and it is

the 100-kilogram (220-pound) upper stage of a

Vega rocket, left over from a spaceflight in 2013

and still orbiting about 800 kilometres (500

miles) above Earth’s surface.

After the chaser latches onto Vespa, which is a

similar size to a small satellite, it will undergo a

controlled reentry into the atmosphere of Earth

and will finish in a blaze of glory under the

supervision of the ESA.

As there is so much debris to clean up, this

mission alone will surely not be enough. Even

if all satellite launches were to stop tomorrow,

the amount of space debris would still increase

due to collisions and the resulting cascade

effect. ClearSpace-1 is certainly a step in the

right direction, however, as it will remove a

larger piece of debris while simultaneously

providing vital information about the

technologies and techniques involved – and

needed – for such an operation.

Thekeyisreusability

ClearSpaceCEOLucPiguet

hasstatedthatitwantsto

createa productthatcan

bereplicatedandreused.