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 1. News
 2. Spaceflight


CLEARSPACE-1 SPACE DEBRIS CLEANUP TARGET IN ORBIT JUST GOT STRUCK BY SPACE
DEBRIS

By Elizabeth Howell
published 2 days ago

Space junk does seem to be a growing problem.

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 * 

Comments (6)

An artist's impression of ClearSpace-1 capturing a rocket piece in space. (Image
credit: ClearSpace SA)


The target for a space debris cleanup mission is apparently in pieces.



A leftover rocket adapter, expected to be removed from low Earth orbit in 2026,
has new pieces of space debris floating nearby. That's a likely aftereffect of
being hit by something small flying through space. The problem was spotted by
the 18th Space Defense Squadron of the U.S. Space Force, which monitors
satellite movements.



That's an unexpected event for the European Space Agency's ClearSpace-1 mission,
which is a planned test mission to remove that adapter in 2026. The adapter is a
conical-shaped leftover, roughly 250 pounds (113 kg) in mass, from a 2013 Vega
launch that sent a small fleet of satellites into orbit. Space tracking systems
found new objects nearby the adapter, which ESA learned about on Aug. 10. The
objects are likely space debris from a "hypervelocity impact of a small,
untracked object" that smacked into the payload adapter, the agency said. We may
never know if the crashing object was natural or artificial, given it didn't
appear in tracking systems.




Related: Space junk cleanup mission to launch in 2026 aboard Arianespace rocket



"This fragmentation event underlines the relevance of the ClearSpace-1 mission,"
ESA officials wrote in a statement Tuesday (Aug. 22). "The most significant
threat posed by larger objects of space debris is that they fragment into clouds
of smaller objects, that can each cause significant damage to active
satellites."



While it appears only a small piece of the rocket hardware was lost after the
collision, the mission plan assumed fully intact hardware. Now evaluations are
ongoing to figure out what's next, and the analysis will persist for weeks at
the least.

The planned ClearSpace-1 mission aims to "rendezvous, capture and remove" the
adapter using a spacecraft from the Swiss startup ClearSpace, according to a
recent release from mission partner Arianespace. A lightweight Vega-C rocket
from Arianespace will bring the cleanup spacecraft to orbit under the ESA-funded
mission.

The plan calls for ClearSpace's spider-shaped vehicle with "legs" to enclose and
then push back into Earth a payload adapter, which is the structure that
connects spacecraft with their launch vehicle. 

RELATED STORIES:

— ESA partners with startup to launch first debris removal mission in 2025

— Space junk cleanup mission to launch in 2026 aboard Arianespace rocket

— Europe is launching a robot to 'hug' space trash out of orbit 

With the planned launch of ClearSpace-1 three years away, there is time to
figure out what to do. But the incident creates even more uncertainty for an
already challenging mission. There is only so much ground stations can see above
the orbit of the International Space Station; the original payload adapter was
only six feet or two meters in diameter and at an altitude only as low as 410
miles (660 km).

Luckily, however, follow-up tracking from the U.S. Space Force and other
stations in Germany and Poland found "the main object remains intact and has
experienced no significant alteration to its orbit," ESA said. And happily, the
risk of these new objects hitting something else is "negligible."

Space debris from humans will take a while to address. Nearly 70 years of space
exploration has left a staggering number of pieces to deal with. ESA estimates
that Earth orbit has at least 36,500 debris objects that are more than 4 inches
(10 centimeters) wide. Including the smallest trackable objects, that number
balloons to an incredible 330 million objects bigger than 0.04 inches (1
millimeter).

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and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at:
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Elizabeth Howell
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Staff Writer, Spaceflight

Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., is a staff writer in the spaceflight channel
since 2022 covering diversity, education and gaming as well. She was
contributing writer for Space.com for 10 years before joining full-time.
Elizabeth's reporting includes multiple exclusives with the White House and
Office of the Vice-President of the United States, an exclusive conversation
with aspiring space tourist (and NSYNC bassist) Lance Bass, speaking several
times with the International Space Station, witnessing five human spaceflight
launches on two continents, flying parabolic, working inside a spacesuit, and
participating in a simulated Mars mission. Her latest book, "Why Am I Taller?",
is co-written with astronaut Dave Williams. Elizabeth holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in
Space Studies from the University of North Dakota, a Bachelor of Journalism from
Canada's Carleton University and a Bachelor of History from Canada's Athabasca
University. Elizabeth is also a post-secondary instructor in communications and
science at several institutions since 2015; her experience includes developing
and teaching an astronomy course at Canada's Algonquin College (with Indigenous
content as well) to more than 1,000 students since 2020. Elizabeth first got
interested in space after watching the movie Apollo 13 in 1996, and still wants
to be an astronaut someday. Mastodon: https://qoto.org/@howellspace

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See all comments (6)


6 Comments Comment from the forums
 * Classical Motion
   That's hilarious. And shows there is a problem. Everybody forgets Murphy. The
   number of collisions has been small. And ignored. What statisticians don't
   realize is....that when the collisions start....they will multiply. And all
   of a sudden, space debris becomes a serious problem. They don't know Murphy.
   He waits for situations like this.
   
   This capture strategy is too cumbersome,...
   Read More Reply
 * thatguy00
   > Classical Motion said:
   > That's hilarious. And shows there is a problem. Everybody forgets Murphy.
   > The number of collisions has been small. And ignored. What statisticians
   > don't realize is....that when the collisions start....they will multiply.
   > And all of a sudden, space debris becomes a serious problem. They don't
   > know Murphy. He waits for situations like this.
   > 
   > This capture strategy...
   
   Read More Reply
 * NoFrillsBill
   I'm curious....did they send another craft up to follow this one around to
   take pictures of it? 🤨
   Reply
 * Paultergeist
   > NoFrillsBill said:
   > I'm curious....did they send another craft up to follow this one around to
   > take pictures of it? 🤨
   
   The launch is planned for 2026. That picture is an artist's impression.
   Reply
 * meohmy2023
   330 million objects circling the earth for the sake of exploring and
   bettering humanity. Sounds like the ocean pollution we're currently not doing
   anything about. But at least SPACE is cooler!! 😀
   Reply
 * Classical Motion
   It's not just all the debris. All the machines up there have many EM
   emitters. All kinds of emitters. We can't hear anything here on earth now,
   too much noise. If we were beamed a message, we'd never hear it.
   
   Can you hear me now? No. We need to put ears on the far side of the moon...
   Read More Reply
 * View All 6 Comments

Show more comments

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