While technically in production and heading towards operations, this project still had to start as a speculative design process – more sci-fi than concrete.  It is representative of the kind of project that will still feel like a faraway future, but are launching as early 2026. Take a look at this remarkable artistic rendering of ClearSpace 1-  set to to launch the first active debris removal mission with Arianespace Vega C.  

The ClearSpace-1 mission’s launch, with Arianespace VEGA C, for the first active debris removal mission, artistic rendering.

Video credit: © ClearSpace, Arianespace

ClearSpace To Launch The First Active Debris Removal Mission With Arianespace Vega C

• For the benefit of ClearSpace, Arianespace will launch ClearSpace-1, a servicer spacecraft, with the European light launcher Vega C. 
• ClearSpace-1, developed by ClearSpace, is the first active debris removal mission, which will rendezvous, capture and remove a piece of space debris. 
• The launch is scheduled from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, starting the second half of 2026. 

ClearSpace and Arianespace signed a launch contract for ClearSpace-1, the first active debris removal mission that will capture and deorbit a derelict space debris object of more than 100 kg. The launch, scheduled starting as soon as the second-half of 2026, will use the new European light launcher Vega C to release the spacecraft into a sun-synchronous drift orbit for commissioning and critical tests. The servicer spacecraft will then be raised to the client object for rendezvous, capture and subsequent deorbitation through an atmospheric reentry.

The space debris object removed by this mission is the upper part of a Vespa (Vega Secondary Payload Adapter) left in a ‘gradual disposal’ orbit, in compliance with space debris mitigation regulations, during the second flight of a Vega launcher in 2013. Close in mass to a small satellite, the simple shape of this space debris object will allow to demonstrate the technologies of the spacecraft and its quartet of robotic arms, thus opening the way for more challenging missions with multiple captures per flight.

“Above us, there currently are over 34,000 pieces of space debris of more than 10 centimeters each as well as about 6,500 operational satellites in orbit, a number expected to rise to more than 27,000 by the end of the decade. These figures demonstrate the need to find innovative solutions for preserving the benefits of Space for humanity and life on Earth. At Arianespace, we are honored to deliver this mission with Vega C, thus supporting a sustainable use of Space,” said Stéphane Israël, CEO of Arianespace.

“We are very enthusiastic about this deal with Arianespace. This secures ClearSpace’s access to space for our trailblazing space debris removal mission. The ClearSpace-1 mission demonstrates a turning point in the space industry as we urgently need to bring solutions to a fundamental problem: we are putting objects into space quicker than they are being removed”, said Luc Piguet, CEO and Co-founder of ClearSpace. “We look forward to this European collaboration and the potential for more missions in the future.”

In 2019, ESA selected ClearSpace from a field of more than a dozen candidates to lead the first mission to remove an ESA-owned item from orbit. Supported by ESA’s new Space Safety Programme, the mission is being procured as a service contract with a startup-led commercial consortium, to help establish a new market for in-orbit servicing, as well as debris removal. (1)

Featured Image Source:  ClearSpace

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/12/16/ooda-loop-2022-the-future-of-commercial-space/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/01/05/ooda-loop-2022-space-and-the-future-of-national-security-and-cybersecurity/

About the OODA Loop Speculative Design Series

Speculative Design: “a design practice that is concerned with future design proposals of a critical nature. The term “speculative design” was popularised by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby as a subsidiary of critical design. The aim is not to present commercially driven design proposals but to design proposals that identify and debate crucial issues that might happen in the future. Speculative design is concerned with future consequences and implications of the relationship between science, technology, and humans. It problematizes this relation by proposing provocative future design scenarios where technology and design implications are accentuated.  These provocative design proposals are meant to trigger the debate about future challenges. Speculative design proposals might seem subversive and irreverent in nature as they are meant to initiate discussions not to be market products.” (1).  For more, see the work of Syd Mead.

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2023/04/19/speculative-design-the-decade-of-the-ocean-and-the-first-liquid-hydrogen-powered-autonomous-vessel/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/11/16/speculative-design-welcome-to-kasperskys-earth-2050/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/10/25/speculative-design-relativity-spaces-fully-reusable-3d-printed-rocket/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/10/07/speculative-design-darpas-airborne-optical-energy-relays/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/09/20/speculative-design-u-s-army-experimental-cubesats-miniaturized-satellites/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/08/19/speculative-design-the-los-angeles-based-urban-air-mobility-partnership/

https://oodaloop.com/archive/2022/07/21/speculative-design-a-nuclear-powered-sky-hotel/