Abstract:
In response to the growing problem of orbital congestion, the British Space Agency announced the award of a £61 million (approximately $81 million) contract to ClearSpace UK to design, build and test a specialized space debris cleanup spacecraft. The mission, planned to be carried out between 2029 and 2032, aims to remove two disabled British satellites from low-Earth orbit.
Currently, the amount of space junk in Earth’s orbit continues to grow. The European Space Agency estimates that the number of orbital debris with a diameter of more than 10 centimeters has reached 35,000 to 50,000, including as many as 3,500 defunct satellites. Although these debris are insignificant on a cosmic scale, they pose a real threat to active satellites due to the large number of spacecraft operating in a limited orbital area.
The bigger problem is that all orbital debris travels at extremely high speeds. Even a tiny chip of paint could cause serious damage if it collided head-on with a satellite. In the event of a collision, more debris may be produced, triggering a chain reaction that makes parts of the orbit progressively more difficult to use safely.
In recent years, countries have begun to reduce the generation of new debris through tracking systems, orbital warning networks, and more stringent spacecraft design specifications. For example, new spacecraft need to avoid shedding parts as much as possible while reducing risk sources such as batteries or propulsion systems that may explode.
In addition, according to gradually emerging international practices, satellite-launching countries need to bear responsibility for their own spacecraft. If a failed satellite causes damage, the countries involved may face legal and financial liability. Therefore, proactively cleaning up scrapped spacecraft is becoming a task that countries pay more and more attention to.
In this context, the British Space Agency selected ClearSpace UK to undertake this mission. The company will develop two dedicated spacecraft with future on-orbit service capabilities, which can not only perform this cleanup operation, but also provide a technical basis for future on-orbit maintenance, assembly and manufacturing commercial tasks.
According to the plan, the two target satellites are currently in low-Earth orbit, have lost their operational capabilities and cannot respond to ground commands. During the mission, the spacecraft will be launched from the Saxa Ward Spaceport in the Shetland Islands in northern Scotland and approach the target through autonomous guidance, navigation and control systems.
After arriving at the target area, the spacecraft will use a mechanical capture device to grab the failed satellite and drag it to a lower orbit. The satellite will then re-enter and eventually burn up in the atmosphere, completely eliminating the risk of collision.
The British Space Agency stated that this plan will not only help clean up hazardous orbital debris, but will also promote the development of the British aerospace industry in emerging fields such as on-orbit service, maintenance, assembly and manufacturing. As the number of global satellites continues to grow, the commercial market surrounding orbit maintenance and garbage cleanup is expected to have huge room for development in the future.
If the mission is successfully implemented, the UK will become one of the first countries in the world to carry out multi-target active space debris cleanup operations, providing important experience for future large-scale orbital environmental management.
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