The ADRAS-J satellite approaches the discarded H-2A rocket stage in this artist’s impression. Image: Astroscale.
A small satellite that will inspect a discarded rocket body in orbit is scheduled to lift off Sunday/Monday on a mission to develop techniques for removing space debris. The satellite built by Japan-based Astroscale will launch atop a Rocket Lab Electron from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC).
The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan satellite or ADRAS-J will approach and monitor the spent upper-stage rocket of an H-2A rocket that launched in January 2009. It is part of the Japanese space agency’s (JAXA) Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration program and is designed to lay the ground work for a future mission to deobit the rocket stage, tentatively scheduled for 2026. A contract has yet to be awarded for this second phase of the program.
ADRAS-J will initially close in on the 3-tonne, 11-meter-long, 4-meter-diameter rocket using ground-based observation data but will then switch to on-board sensors to complete the rendezvous. It is equipped with visual and infrared cameras and LiDAR sensors. Once in close proximity it will assess the rocket body’s condition and guage the extent to which is might be tumbling. It will circle the upper-stage and make a close approach but will not attempt to latch on to the rocket.
Astroscale was founded in 2013 with the goal of offering on-orbit servicing and space debris removal services. It is headquarted in Japan and has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Israel.
If all goes according to plan the ADRAS-J spacecraft will be deployed from the Electron’s Curie kick stage 64 minutes 30 seconds into flight. It will be the 44th Electron launch to date and Rocket Lab’s second mission of 2024. Rocket Lab has nicknamed the mission “On Closer Inspection”.