Rocket Lab has successfully deployed a satellite that will rendezvous in orbit with a derelict rocket, which it will monitor with cameras for six months.
It could prove the first step towards cleaning up a blizzard of space junk.
Japanese firm Astroscale ultimately wants to develop spacecraft that can dock with space debris and then tug it into the atmosphere to burn on re-entry. Nasa says there are about 9000 tonnes of it consisting of thousands of objects.
The On Closer Inspection mission launched from Pad B at Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 at Mahia at 3.52am this morning.
The Electron rocket deployed the Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J), a satellite funded by a ¥12 billion ($131 million) grant from the Japanese government.
There it goes! 🛰️👋
— Rocket Lab (@RocketLab) February 18, 2024
ADRAS-J is now in orbit, ready to start its mission of rendezvousing with an aging piece of space debris and observing it closely to determine whether it can be deorbited in future.
Proud to be part of this innovative @astroscale_HQ mission studying ways to… pic.twitter.com/WcMexdBhHR
ADRAS-J will be manoeuvred alongside the upper stage of H2A — a Japanese rocket used to launch an Earth observation satellite in 2009 — which is now tumbling through space, uncontrolled.
After the rendezvous, ADRAS-J will fly around H2A, which is 11m long and 4m in diameter, inspecting it with cameras and various sensors - collecting data that will help the firm develop a spacecraft capable of grappling hold of space debris.
Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck told the Herald the mission was a world first, and involved challenges around last-minute positioning data that only the Kiwi-American company could solve.
There are about 3000 or more end-of-life satellites and spent rocket stages in orbit, plus thousands of bits of hardware released during missions, exploded motors and more, all zooming uncontrollably around Earth at speeds of 25,000km/h.
Space junk is a problem, Rocket Lab spokeswoman Morgan Bailey told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning.
“But it’s not as scary as people think. It’s not like the Southern Motorway on a Monday morning, bumper to bumper with traffic.
“There’s often hundreds of kilometres between these satellites.
“But what it does need is really careful management.
“If we don’t start looking to bring this stuff down, or avoid leaving it up there in the first place, it will become a bigger problem.”
Rocket Lab itself has a splash-down retrieval-and-reuse programme for the first stage of its Electron rockets, while the upper or “kick stage” can turn itself around after it has deployed a satellite and burn up on re-entry.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.