Photo: Isar Aerospace, Simon Fischer, Wingmen Media

Isar Aerospace will launch the ‘ELSA-M’ In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) mission, thanks to a new deal with Astroscale Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. The mission will be launched aboard Isar Aerospace’s ‘Spectrum’ launch vehicle from the company’s dedicated launch site at Andøya Space. Isar Aerospace announced details of the mission, March 16.

The ‘ELSA-M IOD’ launch will mark a key step towards commercial in‐orbit servicing. As Isar Aerospace’s first end-of-life mission, it aims to demonstrate the company’s ability to target specific orbits required for a rendezvous mission, meeting the unique requirements of customers worldwide.

‘ELSA-M’ will be one of the world’s first commercial end-of-life services for prepared satellites, meaning satellites designed with technologies such as an interface that will enable docking and removal. Majority self-funded, Astroscale’s ‘ELSA-M’ mission is supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA) through the European Space Agency (ESA)’s program of Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) as part of the Sunrise Partnership Project, a public–private partnership between ESA and Eutelsat.

Isar Aerospace’s ‘Spectrum‘ launcher is designed, built, and operated entirely in-house, utilizing a high degree of automation. This approach enables the company to scale manufacturing and as it looks to meet global demand.

“We are thrilled to partner with Astroscale. The ‘ELSA-M’ In-Orbit Demonstration mission will not only display the future of active debris removal in space, but already today shows why customers opt to launch with Isar Aerospace: We provide our customers with the flexibility to determine when their payloads are launched to a target orbit they require.This is our first involvement of active debris removal mission and we are proud to contribute to space sustainability by supporting Astroscale’s pioneering activities,” Stella Guillen, Chief Commercial Officer, Isar Aerospace, said in a statement.