Astroscale UK, a subsidiary of Japan’s Astroscale, is preparing for a critical design review early next year for a servicer tasked with removing a OneWeb broadband satellite from low Earth orbit (LEO) in 2026. This is part of their ELSA-M (End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-Multiple) program.
“We’ve completed a lot of the subsystem level developments and we’ve bought a lot of the flight hardware,” Astroscale UK managing director Nick Shave said in an interview. The 500-kilogram servicer is currently in a “flatsat” phase undergoing testing.
“GNC [guidance, navigation, and control] on the program is quite complex, as you can imagine,” Shave noted. “We’re doing a lot of Rendezvous and Proximity Operations activities and a lot of it is novel.” A dedicated team of 40 in the UK is finalizing the flight software for approaching and capturing the defunct OneWeb spacecraft.
The servicer will use a capture mechanism compatible with magnetic docking plates on most of OneWeb’s 600+ satellites. This demonstration paves the way for a commercial de-orbiting business Astroscale plans to launch later this decade, alongside competitors like ClearSpace and Starfish.
Following the critical design review, ELSA-M subsystem integration will occur in 2025, with a launch likely in the second quarter of 2026. While originally slated for 2024, delays stemmed from OneWeb’s recent contract with the European Space Agency.
“No company or nation has captured a spacecraft in orbit and removed it from orbit commercially,” Shave emphasized. The project receives approximately $35 million from the UK and European Space Agencies, with Astroscale covering “well over 50%” of the costs.
ELSA-M builds upon ELSA-d (End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-demonstration), which successfully captured and released a small satellite in 2021, though a thruster malfunction prevented a controlled de-orbit. Unlike ELSA-d, ELSA-M will target a full-sized satellite not built by Astroscale.
“This is the first capture of another full satellite that wasn’t built by us and owned by a different entity,” Shave highlighted. Astroscale is negotiating with various launch providers, considering options such as a dedicated launch or a shared launch with other payloads.
The mission will involve selecting a target satellite, potentially even on launch day, with enough fuel for three de-orbits. Post-de-orbit, further missions may include space situational awareness and collision avoidance demonstrations.
OneWeb declined to comment, and Astroscale is pursuing other projects, including the ADRAS-J mission to remove a Japanese H-2A rocket stage and potentially a UK Space Agency contract (COSMIC) for removing two more spacecraft.