Zero Genie

Astroscale aims to safeguard satellites by developing methods to remove debris safely and bring it back down to Earth, with its stated mission statement being to “secure long-term spaceflight safety and orbital sustainability for the benefit of future generations”. Launching as a business in 2013, the company now boasts 92 employees spread across offices Japan, the United States, Singapore, plus Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Harwell, Oxfordshire.

There are currently 34,000 large-sized objects being tracked from Earth which are classified as space debris, plus 130 million objects smaller than one centimetre in diameter, which are too small to monitor, according to Astroscale’s website.

Speaking on the sidelines of the UK Space Conference in Wales, Astroscale founder and CEO Nobu Okada told Express.co.uk: “Space debris has now reached a critical level, where a collision can happen in the near future.

“This tells us in the space industry that we have to remove large objects now.

“If large objects in space collide with each other and create new smaller debris then can cannot remove them.

“I would say we have to remove them now. There are more than 34,000 large objects in space and they are travelling seven to eight kilometres a second, which is ten times, 20 times faster than a bullet.”

Debris can range in size from tiny flecks of paint to massive objects the size of a double decker bus, weighing ten tonnes, Mr Okada said.

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“He added: “Large objects collide and become fragments, but even the small fragments have enough power to blow up satellites.

“We already know space is not hospitable any more, and we want to make space hospitable, so we are creating a debris removal device.”

Mr Okada said next year Astroscale would stage its first demonstration during which it would aim to capture “dummy” space debris to prove the viability of its plans – a mission known as the End-of-Life Service by Astroscale (demonstration) or ELSA-d.

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ELSA-d will consist of two spacecraft, a Servicer, weighing 184 kg and a Client, weighing 16 kg, serving as the dummy debris, launched stacked together.

The Servicer will be fitted with a magnetic docking mechanism, and the Client with a ferromagnetic plate enabling it to be docked with.

Operating in the zero-gravity space environment presented enormous challenges and the Service will aim to “grab” the Client magnetically and fling it back towards Earth, where it will burn up safely in the atmosphere.

Mr Okada added: “We are the first company to use these technologies and it’s not easy.

Nevertheless, he stressed next year’s demonstration was a crucial stage in establishing the viability of Astroscale’s techniques.

He added: “This will then open a door for debris removal services.”

Mr Okada resisted the temptation to set a time frame for getting the operation up and running as a commercial venture.

However, he added: “There is a clear need for this – satellite operators want to make their orbit space clean to secure business continuity.”

Speaking last year, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said: “There is no issue related to space more important for all of us to get right than that issue of space situational awareness and space traffic management.

“We need to preserve the space environment for generations to come.

“The only way weíre going to be able to do that internationally is to collaborate.”