Portal Space Systems and Paladin Space are teaming up to take out space debris—by at least 20 pieces at a time.
The companies announced Thursday they are partnering on a mission designed to advance orbital-debris-removal tech from one-off demos, to an economically viable commercial service.
“This is about making debris removal operational, not experimental,” Portal CEO Jeff Thornburg said in a statement. “Satellite data underpins communications, navigation, weather forecasting, and national security. Maintaining that infrastructure requires active debris management.”
Nitty gritty: The Debris Removal as a Service (DRAAS) offering from Portal and Paladin will rely on hardware from each company:
- Portal’s Starburst spacecraft will maneuver through space, hunting down pieces of debris;
- Paladin’s Triton payload will locate and capture debris smaller than one meter.
Triton is expected to be able to capture 20 to 50 pieces of small debris before disposing of its full trash can, while the spacecraft remains in orbit.
Get in line: DRAAS already has its first customer. Starlab Space is building a commercial space station—and the multi-company joint venture doesn’t want to be constantly maneuvering out of the way of debris, or putting the onboard crew at risk. Starlab therefore signed a letter of intent to “integrate the surface into future station operations,” according to the press release.
Why it matters: There are ~40,000 trackable objects in space today—but only about 11,000 are active missions, according to an ESA report published a year ago. However, the vast majority of debris is too small to be tracked, with an estimated 1.2M pieces of junk larger than 1cm.
That debris requires spacecraft operators to always be prepared to maneuver out of the way, which uses up fuel and ultimately shortens the life of affected missions. And if a collision does occur—that’s potentially the end of the spacecraft, and a huge addition to the amount of debris.
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Germany’s HyImpulse Technologies announced a launch service agreement to begin flying from SaxaVord Spaceport, in the Shetland Islands.
The suborbital flight, which is expected to lift off in Q3, is the latest in a broader, European-wide push for sovereign launch capabilities much closer to home than French Guiana, which requires many of Europe’s launchers today—including Arianespace and Avio—to cross an ocean before passing the Kármán line.
Location, location, location: SaxaVord, located above the northern tip of the Scottish mainland, is working to complete three launch pads to host European launchers.
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