At the IAC 2016 Guadalajara, Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) showed its continued interest in the problem of space debris removal by revealing the following. Firstly, the firm is planning a ESA-sponsored deorbit mission of the defunct Earth observation and science satellite Envisat in 2021-23 time frame. The mission will be a tug-type spacecraft of about 1,600 kg which will be launched on a Vega C.
Before that the firm is planning a “space tug” mission in 2019 for the purpose initially of servicing of geostationary/geosynchronous spacecraft. A second mission will be used for debris removal in 2020 while a third will be used for satellite delivery in 2021. Analysts speculate that this could be a countermove to the US firm Orbital ATK who is planning a similar type spacecraft.
Finally, on a much shorter timescale, the Airbus DS subsidiary SSTL (Surrey Satellite Technology Limited) is planning to launch a small spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) called RemoveDebris in late 2017. This mission, which will be released from the ISS, will concentrate on testing debris capture technologies such as net or harpoon systems.
Tim Fuller contributed to this piece.
