ASTROSCALE SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST DEBRIS INSPECTION SPACECRAFT, ADRAS-J

Astroscale Japan confirmed the successful launch of its commercial debris inspection demonstration satellite, Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J), from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on Sunday, February 18, at 2:52 pm UTC.

The ADRAS-J spacecraft was selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (“JAXA”) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program. Astroscale Japan is responsible for the design, manufacture, test, launch and operations of ADRAS-J.

ADRAS-J is designed to rendezvous with a Japanese H2A upper-stage rocket body, demonstrate proximity operations, and gather images to assess the rocket body’s movement and condition of the structure. The mission will demonstrate the most challenging RPO capabilities necessary for on-orbit services.

In the coming days, the ADRAS-J team will continue in orbit tests and checkouts, before commencing rendezvous operations. The H2A rocket body, which was launched in 2009, is an unprepared object that does not provide any GPS data on its own, meaning the precise location and orbital position needed for an RPO mission is not available. ADRAS-J will use ground-based observation data of the client’s approximate orbital position to initially approach the client from a safe distance based on this limited information. The following stages of the mission include rendezvous, proximity approach, proximity operations and departure, and are expected to be completed over the next several months.