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The launch of SES-17 has been delayed. Arianespace stated that investigations are ongoing in order to identify a new launch date from the Kourou spaceport.

The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and spacecraft SES-17 and fellow passenger SYRACUSE 4A are in stable and safe conditions on the launch pad, according to Arianespace. SYRACUSE-4A is a military satellite for the French defence ministry. Arianespace said that the flight, when it is rescheduled, will break previous records in terms of highest height, largest cumulative mass and heaviest payload ever carried on Ariane 5 missions.

The launch was due to take place at the Guiana Space Centre on the night of 22nd October (local time). Both satellites were built by Thales Alenia Space.

Eutelsat, in the company’s latest blog written prior to the announced departure of Rodolphe Belmer, stated that Ultra-high Definition (UHD) provides many advantages for content-makers and broadcasters and is important to the satellite industry.

One extremely important benefit in the need for UHD is in viewer retention, stated the blog. “While SDTV used to be the primary home entertainment, that quickly changed when HDTV hit the market. By 2016, only 37 per cent of US households were still watching in SD, which caused advertisers to reconsider their broadcasting choices.”

“Today,” said Eutelsat, “we’re beginning to see the same trend. According to Statista, HD TVs have been steadily losing global market share to UHD TVs since 2017. While high-resolution TV sets (4K or higher) held a 45.5 per cent market share in 2018, they accounted for over half of all TV sales worldwide in 2019. Indeed, in a recent study by Gfk, UHD TVs accounted for 75% per cent of the overall TV market in Germany.”

Broadcasters who do not want to lose viewers and protect their retention rate should seriously consider adopting UHD sooner, rather than later. This will help them avoid becoming irrelevant in much the same way as the switch from SD to HD, adds Eutelsat.

“According to a recent webinar with IABM & Christiano Benzi, UHD sets are well deployed in the market – but are not yet popular among broadcasters. Despite almost 50 per cent of TV sets in Europe and over 50 per cent in the US being UHD compatible, most channels are still broadcast in SD and HD formats. There is a clear reluctance on behalf of most broadcasters who see the investment to be too costly. However, this is sure to change – as more sets become enabled, consumer demand for quality rises. As observed with HD vs SD viewing, viewers naturally gravitate towards better quality and soon avoid other channels that cannot match their standards,” writes Eutelsat.

Indeed, Eutelsat is firmly of the view that UHD viewing as the standard is simply a matter of time.

“As most broadcasters are avoiding UHD, becoming an early adopter is an excellent opportunity for broadcasters seeking a key differentiator for their channels. This will make them more appealing to viewers and advertisers alike,” suggested Eutelsat, and continued, “As far back as 2012, advertisers have begun a mass exodus from lower-quality broadcasting. Advertisers in North America are already advertising on HD channels more than SD. The same is expected to happen with UHD. Eutelsat research has shown that early adoption of HD in developing markets has directly led to an increase in revenue for broadcasters who invest in them. The early migration in developing markets towards HD increased viewership, making broadcasters who invest in HD more attractive to advertisers.

“It’s no secret that quality attracts viewers and advertisers alike. In fact, better quality has been associated with an 18% higher retention rate, with higher quality channel advertising also outperforming the same adverts on lower-quality channels. This likely indicates that advertisers will eventually migrate to UHD for greater returns than stay on HD channels. Similar to how advertisers abandoned SD for HD. UHD is an opportunity for broadcasters to get ahead of the curve and become early adopters,” added the Eutelsat blog.

An Omnibus hearing on October 20th at the Intelsat bankruptcy court, under judge Keith Phillips, which itself had to postpone adjudicating on many of the matters scheduled to be heard, was told by the judge that Intelsat’s planned confirmation of its exit plan would likely have to be delayed.

Bankruptcy Judge Keith Phillips in Richmond, Virginia, said during a virtual hearing on Wednesday that he has “serious concerns about whether this can be accomplished in four days,” implying that the extensive evidence and testimony flowing around the case might take considerably longer that four days in front of the court.

The immediate suggestion from lawyers for Intelsat and other interested parties said they would discuss the judge’s suggested postponement of the hearing from the current November 8th start date to December 2nd. Intelsat needs approval of the plan, which is a key stage to the satellite operator wrapping up its bankruptcy, which has been ongoing since May 2020. Intelsat is looking to reduce its debt-burden of more than $15 billion to nearer $7 billion.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. will attempt a controlled, ocean splashdown and recovery of the first stage of an Electron rocket during the company’s next launch in November.

The mission will be Rocket Lab’s third ocean recovery of an Electron stage; however, it will be the first time a helicopter will be stationed in the recovery zone around 200 nautical miles offshore to track and visually observe a descending stage in preparation for future aerial capture attempts. The helicopter will not attempt a mid-air capture for this mission but will test communications and tracking to refine the concept of operations (CONOPS) for future Electron aerial capture.

The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission is scheduled to lift-off from Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a 14-day launch window that opens on November 11, 2021, UTC. The mission’s primary objective is to deploy two Earth Observation (EO) satellites for global monitoring company BlackSky, with the secondary objective to splash down and recover Electron’s first stage to further validate Rocket Lab’s recovery operations and hardware.

Rocket Lab will be tracking the stage’s descent from space and as it approaches 19,000 ft (5.7 km) from the ocean surface, a helicopter will be dispatched to conduct reconnaissance of the returning booster. The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission will also include new recovery hardware developments to Electron including an advanced parachute to be deployed from the first stage at a higher-altitude, allowing for a slower drift back to Earth to test communications and tracking for future aerial recovery.

Electron also features improvements to the first stage heat shield which protects the rocket’s nine Rutherford engines while they endure up to 2200 °C heat and incredible pressure on the descent back to Earth. A team of Rocket Lab engineers and technicians will again be stationed at sea with their purpose-built Ocean Recovery and Capture Apparatus (ORCA) to retrieve the stage from the ocean and return it to Rocket Lab’s production complex in New Zealand for analysis and inspection.

“As one of only two companies to recover an orbital-class booster from space, we’ve proven it’s possible to make Electron the world’s first orbital-class reusable small launch vehicle,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab founder and CEO. “We’ve perfected Electron’s controlled descent, demonstrated flawless parachute deployment, and successfully plucked stages from the ocean. Now we’re gearing up for the next stage – preparing to use a helicopter to catch a rocket as it descends to Earth from space. It’s ambitious, but with each recovery mission we’ve iterated and refined the hardware and processes to make the impossible ordinary. I’m excited to take what we learn from this launch and put it into practice with aerial capture missions in future.”

The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission follows two previous ocean splashdown recovery missions; the ‘Return to Sender’ mission in November 2020, and the ‘Running Out of Toes’ mission in May 2021. A live stream of the launch and real-time updates of recovery operations for ‘Love At First Insight’ will be available on Rocket Lab’s social media channels and website.

Approximately two and a half minutes after lift-off, the nine Rutherford engines on Electron’s first stage will shut down and Electron’s first and second stages will separate. Electron’s second stage will continue with the customer’s payload to space, where the Kick Stage will separate and deploy the satellites. Following stage separation, Electron’s first stage will begin its descent. A cold-gas reaction control system will position the stage on an ideal angle to re-enter the atmosphere.

While descending, Electron’s first stage is expected to experience intense heat and pressure while traveling up to eight times the speed of sound before significantly decelerating to enable a drogue parachute to be deployed. At approximately seven and a half minutes into the mission, Electron’s drogue parachute will be deployed at around 43,000 ft (13 km) altitude. This drogue parachute both increases the booster’s drag and stabilizes its descent as it approaches the ocean.

Earlier and higher than on previous flights, the large main parachute will be deployed less than a minute after the drogue, at an altitude of 19,000 ft (5.7 km) to further slow the stage and enable a controlled splashdown. A key objective of this mission is to increase the drift-time of Electron’s first stage to test communications and tracking for future aerial recovery efforts.

Upon receiving the all-clear from the recovery team stationed at sea, a nearby helicopter will be deployed to sight the returning stage and observe its descent to record data that will help refine Electron aerial capture CONOPS. Once in the ocean, Rocket Lab engineers will attempt to retrieve the stage onboard their vessel with their purpose-built Ocean Recovery and Capture Apparatus (ORCA), a specialised cradle and winch system manufactured to Electron specifications and dimensions, before transporting the stage back to Rocket Lab’s production complex for analysis and inspection.

The ‘Love At First Insight’ mission is the latest in a multi-launch agreement signed earlier this year for BlackSky between Rocket Lab and Spaceflight Inc., which is providing integration and mission management services for BlackSky. This mission will deploy the eighth and ninth satellites of BlackSky’s planned constellation as part of that rapid-launch agreement, with another four Gen-2 smallsats across the two additional Electron dedicated missions to follow.

University students can now get ready to fly their satellite by applying to the European Space Agency now.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is encouraging CubeSat student teams, who are working on one, two or three-unit CubeSats with educational scope, to apply for the fourth edition of the Fly Your Satellite! program.

This opportunity is open to University teams, composed of bachelor, master and PhD students from eligible states, who are close to integrating their satellite*.

Selected teams will have the unique opportunity of turning their spacecraft system into an operating CubeSat launched to space by receiving direct professional support from ESA, dedicated training sessions, and access to dedicated state-of-the-art facilities.

The ESA encourages students to join the list of other Fly Your Satellite! teams who have had the chance to learn from their participation in this unique hands-on spacecraft program and apply working methods from professional space programs to your own space project.

*Note: New opportunities are expected to open in spring 2022 for CubeSat student teams who would like to benefit from the support in the consolidation of their design, or to get access to the CubeSat Support Facility.

Proposal Submission Deadline: February 6, 2022, 23:59 CET

A shortlist of teams will be invited to the Selection Workshop expected to take place in March 2022, at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

Arianespace’s tenth launch of 2021 with the seventh Soyuz rocket launched this year will place the OneWeb satellite passengers into LEO — the launcher will be carrying a total payload of approximately 5,797 kg. The launch was performed at Vostochny, in Russia.

Flight ST36, the sixth commercial mission from Vostochny in Russia, placed 36 OneWeb satellites into orbit. That brings the total fleet number to 358 satellites in a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers. After separation, the satellites raised themselves to their operational orbit.

“Congratulations to all the teams who made this eleventh launch dedicated to OneWeb’s satellites a success,” said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace. “ST36 marks a new milestone in our common history. Precisely one hour and eighteen minutes after liftoff, during the first separation sequence, we officially crossed the halfway mark for OneWeb’s constellation deployment. By the end of 2022, we will proudly operate eight more Soyuz launches in order to complete full the deployment of the constellation.”

OneWeb’s mission is to deliver internet everywhere to everyone through the creation of a global connectivity platform via a next generation satellite constellation in LEO. OneWeb’s constellation of 648 satellites will deliver high-speed, low-latency enterprise grade connectivity services to a wide range of customer sectors including enterprise, government, maritime and aviation customers. Central to its purpose, OneWeb seeks to bring connectivity to every unconnected area where fiber cannot reach and, in so doing, bridge the digital divide.

The satellite prime contractor is OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture of OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space. The satellites were produced in Florida, USA, in the company’s satellite manufacturing facilities that can build as many as two satellites per day on a series production line that is dedicated to spacecraft assembly, integration and testing.

This launch was operated by Arianespace and the firm’s Euro-Russian affiliate, Starsem, under contract with Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency. Arianespace is responsible for the overall mission and flight-worthiness, with the support of Starsem for launch campaign activities including management of their own launch facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

RKTs-Progress (the Samara Space Center) is responsible for the design, development, manufacture and integration of the Soyuz launch vehicle as well as for the 3-stage Soyuz flight. NPO Lavotchkin is responsible for the launch preparation operations and flight of the Fregat orbital vehicle.

Once deployed, the OneWeb constellation will enable user terminals that are capable of offering 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access globally & by air, sea and land.

As OneWeb’s constellation will ultimately consist of 648 satellites — this launch hits the mark of more than half of the constellation being on-orbit. The 324th satellite, deployed during the first separation, marked this milestone.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”) has completed their acquisition of Advanced Solutions, Inc. (ASI), a Colorado-based aerospace engineering firm delivering mission proven space software, mission simulation and test systems, and Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) solutions, for $40 million, plus the potential for an additional $5.5 million performance earnout based on CY 2021 results.

ASI’s advances in flight software, mission simulation and GNC significantly strengthen Rocket Lab’s Space Systems portfolio, which encompasses the Photon spacecraft line and a growing suite of spacecraft hardware solutions, including those brought to the portfolio through the acquisition of Sinclair Interplanetary in April 2020.

ASI’s team of almost 60 people will continue to be led by John Cuseo in Colorado, enabling Rocket Lab to grow its presence within the nation’s second-largest aerospace economy and home to cutting-edge space programs, military commands and renowned research laboratories and universities. The ASI team will continue to serve its existing customer base, while leveraging the ability to scale by tapping into Rocket Lab’s resources, team, and technology.

Founded in 1995, ASI has developed an industry-leading suite of software and technology solutions for reliable space mission design and operation. It’s off-the-shelf spacecraft flight software, MAX, has been operating across more than 45 spacecraft for a cumulative 135 years in space. ASI’s customers include leading aerospace prime contractors, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. DOD organizations, NASA, and commercial spacecraft developers including several of the exciting new space start-ups.

The ASI team have supported some of the most ambitious Earth, interplanetary, and human spaceflight missions flown. These missions have explored distant planets, connected people on Earth, and pushed the boundaries of what is possible in space. Now, ASI’s engineers and space software products are enabling a wide variety of missions with speed, capability, and reliability.

“Both Rocket Lab and ASI have built leading space businesses with mission proven technology and have a shared vision of making it easier to get to space and do incredible things there, so we’re excited to welcome ASI aboard to further enhance our space systems portfolio and deliver enhanced end-to-end space solutions,” said Peter Beck, Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The ASI team revolutionized flight software and have enabled some of the most significant space exploration missions. For more than 20 years they have been delivering industry-first, off-the-shelf spacecraft flight software products that enable cost-effective and highly capable constellation and interplanetary missions. By joining forces, we believe it will have a transformative effect on the way spacecraft are designed, built, tested, launched, and operated, further unlocking space’s potential.”

“We’ve found a great fit with Rocket Lab and we’re thrilled to be teaming up with them to continue making space faster, easier and more affordable,” said John Cuseo, ASI Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The two companies complement each other very well. By coming together, we will continue to serve our customers and innovate in our areas of expertise, including space software and GNC, but now with more rocket fuel in the tank to play with. We look forward to also becoming an integral part of Rocket Lab’s Space Systems business, supporting Photon missions, satellite components, and space and ground software.”

Flight ST36, performed by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on October 14, 2021, at 6:40 p.m. local time (09:40 a.m. UTC), will put 36 of OneWeb’s satellites into a near-polar orbit at an altitude of 450 kilometers.

The mission will have a total duration of 3 hours and 51 minutes and will include nine separations of four satellites each, which will raise themselves to their operational orbit.

This 61st launch of Soyuz operated by Arianespace, the 11th for OneWeb, will raise to 358 the number of satellites deployed for the global telecommunications operator. The constellation, once complete, will include 648 satellites. Thus, ST36 will be the launch taking OneWeb more than halfway to the finish line, with 358 of its satellites being on-orbit.

OneWeb’s constellation is designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity services to a wide range of customer sectors, including aviation, maritime, backhaul services, as well as governments, emergency response services and more. Central to its purpose, OneWeb’s goal is to bring connectivity to every area on Earth where fiber cannot reach, and thereby bridge the digital divide.

Once deployed, the OneWeb constellation will enable user terminals that are capable of offering 3G, LTE, 5G and Wi-Fi coverage, providing high-speed access globally – by air, sea and land.

OneWeb Satellites, a joint venture between OneWeb and Airbus Defence and Space, is the constellation’s prime contractor. The satellites were built thanks to the company’s satellite manufacturing process that can build as many as two satellites a day on a series production line dedicated to the assembly, integration and testing of the satellites.

EnduroSat and Exolaunch have signed a launch agreements for sending two EnduroSat smallsats into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. The 6U XL SharedSat smallsats, built by EnduroSat for customers, will be launched via Exolaunch in H1 2022 as part of SpaceX’s SmallSat Rideshare Program. 

The SharedSats are 6U XL smallsats with several multi-purpose payloads on a single bus.  By simplifying access to space services through shared missions for a range of commercial, exploration and science customers, EnduroSat aims to significantly lower the entry barrier of operations in orbit.

The two SharedSats are part of the commercial EnduroSat’s  Missions. They foresee integration, validation, and testing, launch and operations of the satellite and hosted payloads. Direct access to the payload data will be made available in the cloud through EnduroSat’s Digital Mission Control. The software-centric smallsat architecture allows for multiple payloads to operate together reliably on a single platform with access to on-demand processing, power and pointing capability.

Exolaunch will ensure comprehensive rideshare mission management, satellite integration and deployment services for both EnduroSat missions. The launches are arranged by Exolaunch under its Multi-Launch Agreement with SpaceX. The new launch agreements mark the expansion of EnduroSat’s Shared Satellite Service and pave the way to the continued cooperation between the companies on future launches.

For both missions, Exolaunch will use their proprietary deployment  technologies — the EXOpod, a next-gen cubesat deployer with half a decade and 100+ of released satellites flight heritage, to deploy the EnduroSat’s satellites into their target SSO above 500 km, and the EXOport, a flexible, multi-satellite adapter designed to optimally accommodate several satellites on a single Falcon 9 port. 

“We’re really pleased to have signed a launch agreement with Exolaunch, as it is another step in our mission to provide easy access to space. The Shared Satellite Service goal is to help drive innovation at the final frontier for visionary entrepreneurs, scientists, and technologists. At EnduroSat, we are eager to see the innovations that our customers will accomplish in space and are happy to support them every step of the way,” said EnduroSat’s Founder and CEO, Raycho Raychev.

“We’re proud to support EnduroSat with a variety of launch options and flexible mission management to address all their ongoing launch needs for the Shared Satellite Service program. Exolaunch has acquired outstanding flight heritage with Falcon 9 after signing a multi-launch agreement with SpaceX and is pleased to become a trusted launch partner for EnduroSat,” said Jeanne Medvedeva, VP of Launch Services at Exolaunch. “It’s our common vision to make space accessible for everyone and we are honored to contribute to EnduroSat’s mission.”

F

HawkEye 360 Inc. has secured new contracts totaling more than $50 million in potential value since the start of the year as the firm’s next generation satellites have become operational.

HawkEye 360 successfully launched three satellites (Cluster 2) in January, introduced the Mission Space platform for analysis of RF geospatial intelligence in February, and launched three more satellites (Cluster 3) in June. The next launch is planned no earlier than January 2022 and will carry six satellites (both Clusters 4 and 5) into orbit, simultaneously. The company has 15 additional satellites under production for launch to reach a total of 30 satellites on-orbit, with average global revisit around 30 minutes.

The company’s formation-flying satellites can detect, characterize as well as geolocate devices such as radars and push-to-talk radios, which improves visibility of human activity and patterns of life. This new data produces actionable insights for national defense and homeland security operations, maritime domain awareness, environmental protection and a growing number of commercial applications.

“HawkEye 360 is experiencing an exceptional year, with record growth in customer engagements and bookings,” said HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini. “We’re building depth of customers across the United States, Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Asia, including transitioning from pilot programs into programs of record. We are rapidly launching satellites to have sufficient capacity to meet our rapidly growing backlog of customer demand. And our team has demonstrated resiliency even during the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic. The company has been doubling revenue each year and we expect this year to be no different.”

Eutelsat’s CEO Rodolphe Belmer, in a meeting with a French parliamentary committee, told delegates that the OneWeb satellite consortium is now a “European asset” and that it was likely to be the only mega-constellation not owned by the US.

Eutelsat has a 17.5 per cent investment stake in OneWeb, with the British Government owing a similar amount. However, India and Japan are also major investors, as is Hanwha of South Korea.

Belmer told the parliamentarians that with the Eutelsat investment it meant that it was a very competitive asset in the low-latency world that is coming. He added that OneWeb would have priority satellite transmission rights, but also referred to Elon Musk’s Starlink and Telesat (of Canada) and its Lightspeed broadband by satellite service as likely to launch.

Moving on to the Egyptian Satellite Company, that firm is already serving some 56 million homes and 270 million viewers across the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf regions. With the launch next year of Nilesat 301, it is intent on adding more homes and viewers from Africa.

“Being the mainstay satellite of the Arab world, Nilesat has always been present in each and every home, this fact has made an imperative commitment to deliver an unrivaled top-class service from our facilities in Cairo by the highest experienced team,” said CEO Ahmed Anis.

Nilesat’s existing fleet operates from 7 degrees West (while Eutelsat’s adjacent craft operate officially from the same positions, but with their own frequencies). There have been comments from Eutelsat which suggest that the close cooperation between Eutelsat and Nilesat might be coming to an end. Eutelsat’s upcoming results statement on October 27th might update the market on this relationship.

Nilesat 301 is due to be in position in Q2/2022 and will be launched on a Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX. Nilesat 201, launched in August 2010, is still good for operations until 2028.

“We look into the future with many strategic partnerships among our fellow African countries, and for this Nilesat has built its vision towards its natural expansion in the sub-Saharan Africa with the new Nilesat 301 satellite. Nilesat 301’s design reflects the aim to introduce our services into the African market while upgrading our current and future services in the MENA region,” added Anis.

Key additional potential from Nilesat 301 includes “providing Ka-band over Egypt,” said the company, as well as adding extra capacity for high-definition broadcasts as well as 4K. The 301 will carry 6 Ka-band transponders (for broadband) and 32 Ku-transponders. Dedicated transponder beams will cover sub-Saharan Africa and also the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, Kenya, the Sudan, Tanzania, Somalia and the DR of Congo.

On to Intelsat… A large set of documents have been sent to all parties involved in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy reconstruction of the company.

Back on September 7th, the bankruptcy court handling Intelsat’s affairs issued an order that the Confirmation Hearing on Intelsat’s ‘Disclosure Statement’ and latest ‘Plan of Reorganization’ from bankruptcy will commence on November 8th.

The documents are contained in a USB flash drive sent to interested parties. The plan calls for a reduction of Intelsat’s debt burden from some $15 billion to about $7 billion. Some 75 percent of Intelsat’s debt-holders have already agreed to the debt reduction.

The main thrust of the documentation calls on all holders of financial claims to enter their ballot votes, accepting or objecting to the exit plan. Votes have to be filed by October 29th.

Meanwhile, on September 29th, the bankruptcy court will hear a Motion for the appointment of an Examiner (along with objections to the appointment). Intelsat says, in essence, the request is a last-ditch attempt to gain some leverage by equity holders who are expected to see little to nothing under the plan.

The sponsors of the Motion – who hold a modest 2 percent of Intelsat’s equity – say Intelsat has completely ignored valuable net operating losses and potential causes of action that it believes could provide some recoveries to shareholders.

An examiner is necessary to probe the full value of the company’s assets because it has so far been “ignored or devalued without explanation” in the plan, the group said in documents filed to the court.

Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) (“Rocket Lab” or “the Company”) has signed a dedicated launch contract with Astroscale Japan Inc. (“Astroscale Japan”), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. (“Astroscale”).

Scheduled for lift-off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in 2023, the Electron rocket will launch the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) satellite, which has been selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration Project (CRD2), one of the world’s first technology demonstrations of removing large-scale debris from orbit.

Once deployed to a precise orbit by Electron’s Kick Stage, the ADRAS-J satellite is designed to rendezvous with a piece of orbital debris, a long abandoned upper stage rocket body. ADRAS-J aims to demonstrate proximity operations and obtain images of the rocket body, delivering observational data to better understand the debris environment. A planned second phase of the mission, which has yet to be competed, intends to demonstrate the de-orbit of the debris.

“The ability to actively remove satellites and debris from orbit at the end of their operational life will likely play a key role in ensuring a sustainable space environment for the future, so we’re delighted to enable Astroscale to demonstrate new and innovative solutions in this field,” said Rocket Lab Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Beck. “Rendezvousing with a piece of debris on orbit, travelling at around 27,000 km per hour, is a highly complex task that requires absolute precision when it comes to orbital deployment. Electron’s Kick Stage has demonstrated this precision across 18 missions, providing in-space transportation to place our customers’ satellites exactly where they need to go.”

“Reliable and commercially viable launch vehicles like Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket enable frequent and flexible access to space, allowing us to advance our on-orbit services which are fundamental to the growth of the space infrastructure and economy,” said Nobu Okada, Founder and CEO of Astroscale. “Rocket Lab and Astroscale have become leaders in our respective markets and I am thrilled to collaborate on ADRAS-J, a ground breaking mission that will shape the technologies and policies needed to drive space sustainability forward.”

A visualization of the ADRAS-J mission can be viewed at this direct link…