Focus: Space Debris

Virgin Orbit has added Spire Global as a late-load customer addition to its upcoming launch, and completed satellite integration within 36 hours. CEO Dan Hart said the launch contract went […]

Virgin Orbit and Astroscale announced a new MoU to collaborate on satellite servicing, that could include work together on launches, policy, and a potential joint offering. The two companies have […]

The UK Space Agency has awarded Astroscale’s U.K. subsidiary a bid to an study active debris removal project.  The feasibility study will prepare the groundwork for an Active Debris Removal […]

Astroscale has chosen Rocket Lab to launch its first active debris removal mission. The company announced Sept. 21 that Rocket Lab will launch Astroscale’s Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded the U.K. branch of D-Orbit a contract to develop debris removal technology, the company announced Wednesday, Sept. 8. The ESA contract is worth […]

Space debris will be one of the key issues for the space and satellite over the next decade. In April, Findus Venture, an Austrian investor in New Space technology, announced […]

LeoLabs will build its next space radar in the Azores islands of Portugal. The Space Situational Awareness (SSA) service company plans for the radar to be operational in the first […]

The group of G7 nations has pledged to take action on space debris as part of the G7 Leaders’ Summit in the United Kingdom.  Delegates from G7 nations — Canada, […]

Astroscale‘s UK division awarded a $370,000 contract to AAC Clyde Space to co-engineer the space debris removal company’s End-of-Life Services by Astroscale (ELSA-M) satellite platform. AAC Clyde Space will design […]

Findus Venture and Spire Global are the latest two companies to look to tackle the big issue of space debris. The two companies announced April 20 that they are collaborating […]

Viasat has taken issue with SpaceX’s request to lower the orbital altitude of its Starlink satellite constellation, and requested the FCC to prepare an environmental impact statement on Starlink.  In […]

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a $105 million (86.2 million euro) service contract with Swiss startup ClearSpace to remove orbital debris. The contract, announced Dec. 1, finalizes the […]

Astroscale is preparing for the launch of its end-of-life services demonstration, ELSA-d, to launch in March 2021. Astroscale announced Wednesday the mission will launch on a Soyuz rocket operated by […]

NASA has formally commented (PDF) on a request by a U.S. company to build a mega-constellation of satellites at an altitude of 720 km above the Earth’s surface, citing concerns about […]

A report this month by a panel of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) advises the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Space Commerce (OSC) in the U.S. […]

Exotrail has raised $13 million (11 million euros) for on-orbit transportation for small satellites. This Series A round was led by two European Venture Capital firms, Karista (through Paris Region […]

Astroscale is making a move into Geostationary (GEO) on-orbit servicing. Astroscale U.S. Inc., the U.S. unit of Astroscale Holdings Inc., is acquiring the intellectual property of Effective Space Solutions R&D […]

Throwing money at problems works in space, too! A paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that the space debris problem can be fixed once and for all, not by […]

Astroscale Holdings Inc. has opened a Series E funding round and secured Japanese data center provider I-NET Corp. as its first investor, the company announced Monday. Astroscale hopes to close […]

LeoLabs, Inc. has released LeoLabs Collision Avoidance, an automated collision avoidance platform for satellite operators. The product is powered by LeoLabs global network of radars and built on the LeoLabs […]

Astroscale has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with a professor at Northumbria University Newcastle in England to investigate end-of-life standards and practices from industries like oil and nuclear energy. The […]

Astroscale Holdings has been selected as the commercial partner for Phase I of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) first debris removal project, calling it a “groundbreaking” step by Japan […]

Astroscale has been awarded a grant of up to $4.5 million from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s “Innovation Tokyo Project” to build a roadmap for commercializing active debris removal services. The […]

Astroscale entered the Assembly, Integration, and Test (AIT) phase of its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration (ELSA-d) mission, following completion of design reviews and subsystem testing. ELSA-d, the world’s first commercial […]

Astroscale will collaborate with the University of Southampton on a project to investigate collision risks between satellites, highlighting the necessity for financial incentives for satellite operators to engage with active […]

Russian space agency Roscosmos has filed a patent for a satellite shield system that aims to protect spacecraft from colliding with dangerous objects in space. According to the patent, which was […]

Millennium Space Systems, New Zealand-based launch provider Rocket Lab, and TriSept, one of the commercial space industry’s original rideshare and mission management service providers, have partnered to send small satellites […]

As global space activity expands and accelerates, our space environment, naturally, becomes more congested. There have been nearly 9,000 satellites launched to date. Out of those 9,000, only 5,000 are […]

The government of Luxembourg and Canadian technology company NorthStar Earth and Space are a launching a “Clean Space” initiative to foster sustainability in space. The Clean Space initiative would evaluate […]

Three months ago, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a surprise announcement that India successfully took down a redundant satellite with an Anti-Satellite (ASAT) missile from Earth. A new report […]