ESA unveils ClearSpace-1, the first trash collector in space

The European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed its plans for the first-ever mission to collect a piece of space junk that is in orbit around the Earth. Named ClearSpace-1, the mission is happening under the auspices of a consortium headed up a Swiss startup, ClearSpace. 

The mission is scheduled to launch in 2025 and its task is to capture and deorbit a 100 kg piece of an Arianespace Vega rocket left floating in orbit around 800 km (495 miles) from Earth following the deployment of ESA's Proba-V satellite in 2013.

The ClearSpace led consortium will construct a spacecraft equipped with four robotic arms to capture debris and bring it back into Earth's atmosphere. 

Space junk orbiting the planet has been increasingly on the agenda in recent years. In September, the Director of Surrey Space Centre, Professor Guglielmo Aglietti said that there was an estimated 8,000 tonnes of orbiting the planet, made up of several thousand satellites as well as "hundreds of thousands" of small objects, less than 10 cm in size, which are at present impossible to track, and pose a greater threat to active space craft.

"Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still drifting on top of the water," said Jan Wörner, ESA’s director general. "That is the current situation in orbit, and it cannot be allowed to continue."

ESA estimates that the total cost of the ClearSpace-1 mission will be around €117-million, and aims to pave the way for further trash collection missions.

Wörner added that rules should be introduced for satellite launches, making those implementing the launch responsible for removing the object when it is no longer needed.

Luc Piguet, founder, and CEO of ClearSpace said "The space debris issue is more pressing than ever before. Today we have nearly 2,000 live satellites in space and more than 3,000 failed ones."

Piguet added that while this first mission will destroy both the debris and the servicer spacecraft, future plans call for servicers that could deorbit multiple objects without also destroying themselves. 

Back to Homepage

Back to Aerospace & Defence