Tokyo-based Astroscale Japan is a company attempting to deal with the growing problem of floating space garbage. As part of that mission, it recently completed a close fly-by of a discarded upper-stage rocket body, and the photo of space garbage it snapped is strikingly beautiful.that if it isn’t addressed can result in humanity being trapped on Earth with no safe way into the stars.
It’s a problem that makes itself worse over time, as debris that collides with other debris creates more debris, escalating the issue., Astroscale Japan is attempting to be one possible solution to the problem by actively removing large pieces of debris. As part of that mission, it launched the Active Debris Removal satellite in February with the goal of collecting observational data that could later be used to remove larger pieces of debris from orbit.
“ADRAS-J is a groundbreaking mission as the world’s first attempt to safely approach, characterize, and survey the state of an existing piece of large debris through RPO. ADRAS-J is designed to rendezvous with a Japanese upper-stage rocket body, demonstrate proximity operations including orbiting around the upper stage, and gather images to assess the rocket body’s movement and condition of the structure.
“Unprepared objects in orbit are not designed with any technologies that enable docking or potential servicing or removal, heightening the complexity of the operations,” Astroscale explains. “The fly-around observation involved a complex, autonomous operation to maneuver ADRAS-J around the upper stage client for continuous image-taking, providing more insights into its characteristics and movement.”in 2009.
The second stage of the ADRAS-J mission, which would capture and de-orbit large pieces of floating debris, is scheduled to begin in 2026 at the earliest.