Original source (on modern site)
Space Safety
23/04/2024
917 views
8 likes
Clearspace-1 is ESA's first mission to demonstrate how to remove a piece of space debris from Earth's orbit. It will rendezvous with, capture and safely bring down a derelict object for a safe atmospheric reentry - the near future of what space experts call Active Debris Removal (ADR). The mission has been procured by ESA as a service contract in 2020 with an industrial team led by Swiss startup ClearSpace in Lausanne. In February 2023, the company and its partners mastered ESA's Space Safety programme review, after having received the funding for the next phase of the Clearspace-1 mission during ESA's Ministerial Council in November 2022. Following this, ESA's Space Safety Programme Board today gave green light for the continuation of the preparatory phase, which will be implemented by a consortium led by OHB SE, a European space and technology company headquartered in Bremen, Germany, and involving the previous contractor, ClearSpace, who will continue to lead the close-proximity and capture operations. The Clearspace-1 mission is a cornerstone of ESA's Space Safety Programme, serving the Zero Debris Approach, the Agency's bold goal to significantly limit the production of debris in Earth and Lunar orbits by 2030 for all future missions, programmes and activities. At the same time, it serves as a prime example to encourage the worldwide space community to become part of the Zero Debris Charter: Facilitated by ESA's 'Protection of Space Assets' Accelerator and created and written by 40 space actors, the Charter contains both high-level guiding principles and specific, jointly defined targets to get to Zero Debris by 2030. "We are seeing a dramatically increased use of space, but still insufficient technology to prevent the risks that follow. Our aim to become debris neutral in a few years will require clearing precious Earth orbits once a mission is complete, and if the mission fails to do this, it must be actively removed by dedicated vehicles," concludes Holger Krag, ESA's Head of Space Safety.