{"id":11792,"date":"2021-03-23T00:35:14","date_gmt":"2021-03-22T16:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/privately-funded-mission-takes-off-to-begin-space-debris-cleanup-trials\/"},"modified":"2021-03-23T00:35:14","modified_gmt":"2021-03-22T16:35:14","slug":"privately-funded-mission-takes-off-to-begin-space-debris-cleanup-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/privately-funded-mission-takes-off-to-begin-space-debris-cleanup-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"Privately-funded mission takes off to begin space debris cleanup trials"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The ELSA-d mission\u2019s servicer and chaser satellites (bottom and top) during ground testing last year. Credit: Astroscale<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A commercial mission developed by the Japanese company Astroscale rocketed into space on a Russian Soyuz launcher Monday with 37 other payloads, ready to kick off an orbital \u201cdance\u201d with two small spacecraft demonstrating how satellite sweepers might one day drag junk out of orbit.<\/p>\n

The privately-funded mission is a pathfinder for future satellites that could roam busy orbital traffic lanes to link up with old pieces of space junk and drive them back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration mission, known as ELSA-d, will use two small satellites launched in tandem to perform a series of trials in low Earth orbit around 340 miles (550 kilometers) above the planet.<\/p>\n

The ELSA-d satellites launched into orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz booster Monday at 2:07:12 a.m. EDT (0607:12 GMT) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

Sporting an unusual white and blue paint scheme to mark the upcoming 60th anniversary of the first human spaceflight mission, the Soyuz-2.1a rocket deployed a Fregat upper stage in space, which fired its engine several times over four hours to inject 38 small and medium-size international satellites into three different orbits.<\/p>\n

The biggest payload on-board Monday\u2019s launch was the South Korean CAS500 1 Earth observation satellite. Four commercial Earth-imaging satellites from the Japanese company Axelspace and dozens of smaller commercial and research missions also launched Monday.<\/p>\n

Read our preview story for details on all the satellites on Monday\u2019s commercial mission, which was managed by GK Launch Services, a division of the government-owned Russian space company Glavkosmos.<\/p>\n

Astroscale\u2019s ELSA-d mission was one of the larger satellites on the mission, and it was one of the last payloads deployed from the Fregat upper stage. Tokyo-based Astroscale confirmed the ELSA-d spacecraft was healthy and unfurled its power-generating solar panels after separation from the Fregat in orbit.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat start!\u201d tweeted Nobu Okada, founder and CEO of Astroscale.<\/p>\n

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A Soyuz-2.1a rocket lofted the Astroscale ELSA-d mission and 37 other small satellites Monday. Credit: GK Launch Services<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The larger of the two ELSA-d satellites, designated the \u201cServicer\u201d spacecraft, launched connected with a \u201cClient\u201d satellite. The two spacecraft will separate from each other before commencing their experiments.<\/p>\n

Using on-board navigation aids, the two satellites will dock and undock several times over the course of the six-month demonstration mission, simulating an approach to a stable piece of space junk and then practicing for a docking with a tumbling object in orbit. The satellites will use magnets to connect with each other in space.<\/p>\n

ELSA-d is the first commercial mission to demonstrate technologies to remove space junk from orbit. The satellites have a combined mass of about 423 pounds, or 192 kilograms. The Servicer was built by Astroscale in Japan and the Client was manufactured by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis mission is really going to be the first demonstration mission that demonstrates capabilities of removal from end-to-end, from the capture, detumble, to the lowering of the orbit of the client, so it\u2019s pretty monumental for us. We\u2019re very excited,\u201d said Mike Lindsay, Astroscale\u2019s chief technology officer.<\/p>\n

Astroscale employees in Hartwell, England, will oversee ELSA-d\u2019s operations after launch. The UK Space Agency licensed the first-of-its-kind mission.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2013, Astroscale has nearly 200 employees distributed in offices in Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, and Singapore. The company has raised $191 million in capital to help jump-start its operations.<\/p>\n

ELSA-d\u2019s Servicer satellite has all the smarts to perform the complex navigation, rendezvous, and docking maneuvers required to link up with the Client. The smaller Client spacecraft, standing in for an old satellite or rocket body needing help getting out of orbit, has a ferromagnetic plate that serves as a docking target for the Servicer. It\u2019s painted with a pattern of shapes to help the Servicer determine its range and motion relative to the Client.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe servicer has all the remote sensing capabilities to assess the tumble rate, the condition of the client, the attitude control and the orbit control to do the rate matching and docking maneuvers,\u201d Lindsay said earlier this month in a presentation at the LRA Institute\u2019s Space Disposal and Debris Mitigation Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Servicer will be using a magnetic capture device,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cWe like this idea because we can simplify the robotic interface \u2026 We have a magnetic interface there, so it tolerates a lot of additional error, translation error, and rotation and angular. So it\u2019s a really robust capture system, which is really key for when you\u2019re trying to dock with a client that is not necessarily controlling its own attitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demonstrating the Servicer can dock with a tumbling spacecraft is a critical part of the ELSA-d mission. With few exceptions, all of the failed satellites and spent rocket stages in orbit were never designed to be serviced or receive a visiting spacecraft. They have no docking ports, and most are uncontrolled, drifting and tumbling as they circle the planet hundreds to thousands of miles up.<\/p>\n

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This infographic illustrates the problem of space debris in orbit. Credit: ESA \/ UNOOSA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As of December, the European Space Agency said there were about 26,000 objects in orbit regularly tracked and catalogued by space surveillance networks. About 90% of those objects were no longer functioning, according to ESA.<\/p>\n

Astroscale\u2019s ground team will shepherd the ELSA-d mission through progressively more complex maneuvers later this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first demonstration is we separate the Client, we hold the Client steady, and we just demonstrate a cooperative docking maneuver,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cIt should be relatively straightforward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next demonstration is we release the client, and the Client goes into a simulated natural tumbling motion. This is not really known by the Servicer. So the servicer will start its mission by assessing the tumble rates of the client,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cIt uses the fiducial pattern on the docking plate to aid the determination of rates, and it uses that pattern again to help guide the docking. So the Servicer will do this rate matching.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to space debris removal, this is where the rubber hits the road. Engineers designing a removal mission are unlikely to know the state of the piece of space junk until the satellite gets close.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call this the dance, where it matches the tumble rate, finds the docking plate, and then docks with it and stabilizes the Client,\u201d Lindsay said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the final demonstration is we will release the client and separate enough to essentially lose the client from the Servicer\u2019s standpoint,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cWe, of course, know where the client is on the ground, and it\u2019s well within the instrument capabilities on the Servicer.<\/p>\n

The servicing spacecraft will locate its companion and close in for docking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s critical to demonstrate because of the population of debris objects that are on-orbit,\u201d said Clare Martin, Astroscale\u2019s executive vice president of programs and operations. \u201cA lot of those are rocket bodies. They are tumbling objects and they\u2019re not going to be able to control their attitude as we try to approach and dock with them.\u201d<\/p>\n