An Electron rocket lifts off from the Rocket Lab launch site on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula, carrying the ADRAS-J Astroscale satellite. Image: Rocket Lab.
A small satellite that will examine a discarded rocket body in orbit launched on Sunday/Monday to develop space debris removal techniques. The satellite, built by Japanese company Astroscale, launched at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC) on a Rocket Lab Electron from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
Active debris removal by the Astroscale-Japan, or ADRAS-J, satellite will approach and monitor the spent upper stage of an H-2A rocket launched in January 2009. It is part of the Japanese Space Agency's (JAXA) commercial debris removal program. Demonstration program and is intended to lay the foundation for a future rocket stage liftoff mission, tentatively scheduled for 2026. A contract has yet to be awarded for this second phase of the program.
ADRAS-J was deployed 64 minutes into the flight following two firings of the Electron's Curie kick stage to place the spacecraft precisely on course for its deep space rendezvous.
“100% mission success,” Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck wrote in a social media post. “Big day for the GNC [Guidance Navigation and Control] Team with a perfect argument for perigee targeting.”
The mission, nicknamed “On Closer Inspection,” was the 44th Electron launch to date and Rocket Lab’s second mission of 2024.
The ADRAS-J spacecraft initially approaches the abandoned rocket body using ground-based observation data, but then switches to onboard sensors to complete the rendezvous. It is equipped with visual and infrared cameras as well as LiDAR sensors. Once in close proximity, it will assess the condition of the rocket body and estimate the extent to which it may be tumbling. It will orbit and approach the upper stage, but will not attempt to latch on to the rocket.
The H-2A upper stage is currently in a 622 x 557 km orbit, inclined 98.2 degrees to the equator, has a mass of three tons, is 11 meters long and four meters in diameter.
The ADRAS-J satellite approaches the decommissioned H-2A rocket stage in this artist's impression. Image: Astroscale.
“Taking images in space may sound easy, but doing it with an unprepared object that itself provides no location data and moves at about 7.5 kilometers per second is extremely difficult,” said Nobu Okada, founder and CEO of Astroscale. “In fact, this type of operation is one of the most demanding capabilities required for on-orbit services.”
Astroscale was founded in 2013 to provide on-orbit and space debris removal services. The company is headquartered in Japan and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Israel.