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Removal of the VESPA upper part

Fri, 07/08/2022 - 16:09
Start Date: 
2019
Programme: 
Discovery
End Date: 
2020
Programme Reference: 
19-D-S-TEC-03
Country: 
Switzerland
Contractor: 
ClearSpace
Status: 
Closed
Description: 

The objective of the Landmark ClearSpace-1 mission will be to demonstrate the complete value chain of active debris removal by removing an ESA-owned object (a VESPA upper part orbiting at an altitude of 500 km) by 2025.

The motivation for this project is that today there are more than 3000 failed satellites orbiting Earth and less than 2000 'live' ones... These uncontrollable objects present risks of explosions or collisions with other satellites. Such events increase the amount of debris dramatically, in turn increasing the risk of further collisions. With the number of satellites launched every year growing rapidly, the population of human-made debris orbiting Earth has exploded over the last ten years. The next big challenge is keeping space clean to ensure sustainable growth in the future.

Application Domain: 
Space Safety
Technology Domain: 
11 - Space Debris
Competence Domain: 
10-Astrodynamics, Space Debris and Space Environment
Keywords: 
CleanSpace
ADR
active debris removal
Space debris
space debris mitigation
Executive summary: