Astroscale Japan Transitions to Phase II of Satellite Debris Inspection Mission Development

Tokyo, Japan, Dec. 18, 2024 – Astroscale Japan Inc. (“Astroscale Japan”), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. (“Astroscale”), the market leader in satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability across all orbits, has announced that it will transition to Phase II of the development for its ISSA-J1 (In-situ Space Situational Awareness-Japan 1) mission. This milestone marks significant progress toward imaging and diagnosing a large, defunct satellite in orbit.

Astroscale Japan was selected under Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s Small Business Innovation Research program to advance debris removal technologies. Phase I of the development focused on preliminary spacecraft design and navigation sensor development. The next phase will advance to detailed design, ground testing, assembly and mission operation preparations with funding of up to 6.31 billion yen (excluding tax). The mission is expected to continue through Phase III, with completion targeted for March 2028.

Building on the success of the ADRAS-J (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) mission, Astroscale has already demonstrated key rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO) technologies by approaching a rocket upper stage within 15 meters and validating the onboard collision avoidance system. These achievements lay a strong foundation for ISSA-J1, which will focus on RPO with large satellite debris.

Unlike operational satellites, defunct objects do not provide any GPS data and other critical telemetry, making RPO more complex. Astroscale aims to overcome these challenges with ISSA-J1 by developing technologies to safely and precisely approach and inspect other types of large debris. This capability is critical for advancing on-orbit servicing and future debris removal missions.

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