ClearSpace-1 set to clean up space debris

The ClearSpace-1 mission is being procured as a service contract with a start-up led commercial consortium, to help establish a new market for in-orbit servicing, as well as debris removal.

In a statement, Luc Piguet, founder and CEO of ClearSpace said, “This is the right time for such a mission. The space debris issue is more pressing than ever before. Today we have nearly 2000 live satellites in space and more than 3000 failed ones.

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“And in the coming years the number of satellites will increase by an order of magnitude, with multiple mega-constellations made up of hundreds or even thousands of satellites planned for low Earth orbit to deliver wide-coverage, low-latency telecommunications and monitoring services. The need is clear for a ‘tow truck’ to remove failed satellites from this highly trafficked region.

At the end of November, ESA’s Ministerial Council agreed to place a service contract with a commercial provider for the removal of an inactive ESA-owned object from low-Earth orbit. The aim is to actively contribute to cleaning up space, while demonstrating the technologies needed for debris removal.