Japan Initiates ‘Space Cleanup’ Campaign

A Japanese company announced on Monday that it successfully launched what it described as the first spacecraft dedicated to monitoring the increasing number of "space debris" in orbit, which can pose a hazard.

Astroscale, a private Japanese firm, stated that the mission of the spacecraft named Adras-J (short for Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) involves locating pieces of debris from the Japanese H-IIA rocket that have been floating in space for 15 years and examining them.

The probe was launched at 14:52 GMT on Sunday from New Zealand. Project leader Eijiro Atarashi stated that the probe is "ready to begin its operations" after establishing communications with the ground control center.

The exact orbital location of the upper stage of the H-IIA rocket, launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2009 and roughly the size of a bus, is unknown. However, its position will be determined using ground-based observation data.

Adras-J will approach this location, positioning itself at a "safe distance," and then capture images to assess the movements and condition of the rocket's upper stage.

This spacecraft was chosen for the first phase of JAXA's program aimed at removing large debris from Japanese vehicles in space, in collaboration with the private sector.

Since the dawn of the space age, debris such as spent satellites, rocket parts, and collision wreckage has been accumulating, but the problem has expanded and accelerated in recent decades.

The European Space Agency estimates there are about a million pieces larger than one centimeter in orbit, consisting of satellite or rocket debris, which are large enough to "disrupt a spacecraft."

Several solutions have been proposed for space cleanup, one of which involves using a laser beam to push the debris into a new orbit where a special tool collects it using magnetic attraction.

Japan successfully launched its new heavy rocket, "H3," on Saturday after two initial failures last year. At the end of January, Japan became the fifth country to successfully land on the moon.

However, its small spacecraft "SLIM" is at risk of running out of power soon due to an issue with its solar panels.