Astroscale on course to remove space debris

The COSMIC mission – Cleaning Outer Space Mission through Innovative Capture – will harness Astroscale’s Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) and robotic debris capture capabilities to remove the satellites in the UK’s first national space debris removal mission.

Astroscale is currently working with selected industrial partners on the design of a spacecraft that will incorporate a robotic arm to safely and securely capture a defunct satellite in low earth orbit (LEO). Following capture, COSMIC will manoeuvre the defunct satellite out of the LEO environment and release it into a lower disposal orbit where it will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

The COSMIC servicer will then go on to rendezvous with, capture and remove a second debris object.

“Active Debris Removal means we’re trying to grab hold of an object in space that was not designed with capture in mind,” said Sarah Cawley, senior project manager for COSMIC at Astroscale.

“In LEO, objects are hurtling through space at 17,000 miles (27,360 km) per hour. Our job is to design a spacecraft that can approach the unprepared satellite, analyse its behaviour and trajectory, and then manoeuvre to capture it safely.”