Swiss startup ClearSpace wins ESA contract to deorbit Vega rocket debris
WASHINGTON
The European Space Agency
signed a debris-removal contract with Swiss startup ClearSpace tasking the company with deorbiting a substantial piece of a Vega rocket left in orbit in 2013.
The mission, dubbed ClearSpace-1, is slated to launch in 2025 to capture and deorbit a 100-kilogram Vespa payload adapter an Arianespace Vega left in orbit after deploying ESA’s Proba-V remote-sensing satellite.
ClearSpace
will lead a consortium of European companies in building a spacecraft equipped with four robotic arms to capture debris and drag it into Earth’s atmosphere.
“Imagine how dangerous sailing the high seas would be if all the ships ever lost in history were still drifting on top of the water,”
ESA Director General Jan Woerner said in a news release. “That is the current situation in orbit, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”
ESA
estimates the total mission will cost 117 million euros ($129 million) to complete, according to spokesperson Erika Verbelen.
Luc Piguet, co-founder and chief executive of ClearSpace, said the ESA funding covers spacecraft development and launch costs.
Piguet said ESA allocated 70 million euros covering the first three years of the program, consistent with how the agency’s ministerial budget process works.
Since ministerials occur every three years, the agency’s 22 member states will discuss funding the remainder of the mission in 2022, he said.
SpaceNews.com
https://spacenews.com/swiss-startup-clearspace-wins-esa-contract-to-deorbit-vega-rocket-debris/