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Update on Astroscale’s mission to de-orbit a OneWeb satellite

Link here. Lots of details. The project is now targeting a ’26 launch, and if successful would be the first to capture a spacecraft in orbit and de-orbit it commercially — assuming some other orbital tug company doesn’t do it first.

One tidbit from the article that I had not known:

While the UK Space Agency and European Space Agency have provided around $35 million in funds, … Astroscale is financing “well over 50%” of the mission.

In other words, both the UK and ESA are following the capitalism model. They have left ownership and control of the de-orbit tug to Astroscale, which means they require it to obtain outside private investment capital on its own.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

One comment

  • Edward

    This is yet another exciting aspect of this decade. An orbital debris removal industry is beginning to materialize. In this case, the tug (the company is calling it a “servicer” rather than a tug, but it performs similarly to a tug) has enough propellant to deorbit three satellites. I’m sure that eventually the company will make its tugs retankable (refuelable), so that each one can spend its time in the region of its orbital plane, cleaning up space junk.

    I’m sure that future tugs will begin to cost less to make, fly, and retank.* This could make it significantly more affordable to eliminate space junk.

    This reminds me a bit of the 1970s television show Quark, in which the crew of a “garbage scow” space ship had the job of collecting space trash, demonstrating that this was enough of a concern half a century ago that it entered popular science fiction. Well, maybe not that popular; the show lasted only a season, or half a season, or maybe only until the first commercial break.
    _____________
    * This one seems to be costing at least $70 million to design (perhaps including manufacturing costs?), and a launch may cost less than the price of a $60+ million Falcon 9, if it is part of a combined launch, for a cost of maybe $45 million for each of the three potentially deorbited satellites.

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