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TAMPA, Fla. — Astroscale has completed the critical design review of a servicer aiming to remove a OneWeb broadband satellite from low Earth orbit (LEO) next year, the Japanese venture’s British subsidiary announced June 4.
The review clears the way for assembly, integration and testing of the 500-kilogram servicer’s flight model under ELSA-M, or End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-Multiple.
Mostly funded by Astroscale with support from the UK Space Agency, ELSA-M would use a magnetic mechanism to capture a defunct OneWeb satellite equipped with a compatible docking plate, then release it on a controlled path to burn up in the atmosphere.
Astroscale said the CDR milestone was validated by Eutelsat, OneWeb’s French owner, and the European Space Agency.
The demonstration, originally slated for 2024 but delayed by OneWeb’s sale to Eutelsat, is a precursor to a commercial de-orbit service Astroscale aims to bring to market around 2030.
ELSA-M builds on a smaller demonstration in 2021, when Astroscale launched a servicer that released, recaptured and released a tiny companion satellite in LEO. Failed thrusters later prevented that servicer from capturing the satellite a second time so the pair could de-orbit together and burn up in the atmosphere.
Unlike its predecessor, the ELSA-M servicer is designed to de-orbit multiple spacecraft in a single mission.
Astroscale is drawing on ELSA-M in a bid for a separate UK Space Agency contract to remove two satellites from LEO in the coming years, competing with Swiss startup ClearSpace.
ClearSpace recently announced it had completed the second phase of the UK’s Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission. An Astroscale spokesperson said the company is in the final stages of completing its own ADR Phase 2 work.
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