Astroscale's ADRAS-J Spacecraft Continues Inspection of Japanese Upper Stage Following "Unexpected Attitude Anomaly" Abort

Astroscale's ADRAS-J spacecraft continues its meticulous inspection of a Japanese upper stage left in low Earth orbit, demonstrating its ability to safely conduct close proximity operations.

The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft recently executed a “fly-around” maneuver around the H-2A upper stage it has been studying for several months. During this maneuver, ADRAS-J used its sensors to maintain a distance of just 50 meters from the stage. However, about one third into the maneuver, ADRAS-J encountered an “unexpected attitude anomaly” that triggered an automatic abort sequence. The spacecraft moved away from the stage as a safety measure, designed to prevent any potential collision.

“The abort maneuver implemented during the fly-around operation demonstrated that ADRAS-J can maintain safety even while performing close approach observations of non-cooperative objects,” - Astroscale

Engineers identified the cause of the anomaly and are preparing for another close approach to the stage. Despite this anomaly, the ADRAS-J mission has been progressing well.

The spacecraft launched in February and reached the vicinity of the H-2A stage in April. In May, it approached within 50 meters of the stage and has been conducting detailed inspections since then. The fly-around maneuver began on June 19.

“It was just beautiful,...These images hold a lot of implications” - Nobu Okada, Founder and Chief Executive of Astroscale

The images captured by ADRAS-J show that the stage has remained in relatively pristine condition after 15 years in orbit, and has a very low tumbling rate, described by Okada as "almost static"

Besides being a technical demonstration of rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), ADRAS-J is also a policy demonstration. The mission adheres to guidelines for on-orbit servicing released by the Japanese government, emphasizing safety, transparency, and proper permissions for operations.

ADRAS-J represents the first phase of a program by the Japanese space agency JAXA called Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration. In April, JAXA selected Astroscale for the program’s second phase, which involves sending a spacecraft to deorbit the same upper stage. Detailed plans for this mission have yet to be released.

While operating ADRAS-J, Astroscale also completed an initial public offering (IPO) on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market. The company’s stock surged more than 60% on its first day of trading on June 5 but has since retracted, closing at 818 yen ($5.07) per share on July 9, below its IPO price of 850 yen.

“This shows the global investor community sees the significance of space sustainability but also the market opportunity for on-orbit servicing,...By leveraging RPO technologies, we are finally capturing opportunities...We are on the cusp of a booming on-orbit servicing market.,” - Nobu Okada, Founder and Chief Executive of Astroscale

The company 's backlog has expanded from 1.7 billion yen two years ago to 28.5 billion yen today.

Astroscale’s progress with ADRAS-J marks a significant step towards sustainable space operations, showcasing the potential for safe and effective debris removal in orbit.