ADRAS-J is needed to evaluate one of the objects
The ADRAS-J spacecraft of the Japanese company Astroscale has entered orbit and is ready to carry out a test mission of the space debris removal program.
The device, which was launched into orbit by the Electron rocket of the private company Rocket Lab, is the first in the Astroscale program aimed at clearing space debris from near-Earth space.
Congratulations to the team! ADRAS-J has officially begun operation and is ready to meet space debris! Let a new era of cosmic sustainability begin!
The device itself will not remove any debris from orbit. His task is simpler — get close to the upper stage of an old Japanese rocket, which has been in orbit since 2009, and evaluate its position, condition, rotation parameters, and so on. If the company receives funding, during the second phase of the program the rocket stage will be captured and deorbited — thus it will burn up in the atmosphere. But this will be realized through another spacecraft.