UK signs $81 million deal to launch space junk removal mission in 2029

The UK Space Agency has signed an $81 million contract to launch a mission that will use a spacecraft with four grabbing arms to remove defunct satellites from orbit. The mission, part of the UK’s Active Debris Removal Programme, is scheduled to launch from Scotland in 2029 with a goal of destroying two dead satellites by 2032. The specialist spacecraft will hunt down the debris, capture it with its arms and then escort it into the lower atmosphere for incineration. If successful, it will be the first time a spacecraft has disposed of more than one satellite in this way, the agency said.

"Space junk and debris pose an immense and growing challenge, but with our homegrown expertise, the UK is determined to lead the global effort to clean up space," said UK Space Minister Liz Lloyd. She said the mission would protect satellites that underpin modern life, from communications and GPS to weather forecasts and national security. The contract was signed with the aerospace manufacturing company ClearSpace, which will build the spacecraft. Currently, defunct satellites pose a significant risk to active ones that provide essential services. The spacecraft will be refuelable and parked at a safe orbit so it can be used for future cleanups, avoiding becoming part of the debris problem itself. "The technologies being developed through ADR will help establish the UK’s position at the forefront of a new generation of space services while supporting a sustainable future for activities in space," said Alice Bunn, co-director of the UK Space Agency.

Officials say tackling space debris is of paramount importance. A report from May found that 15,587 of the 33,269 tracked objects circling the planet are debris from space launches. This junk can travel at speeds up to 20,000 miles per hour, posing an enormous risk to missions and infrastructure in low Earth orbit. The European Space Agency notes that even a one-centimetre piece of debris is enough to disable a spacecraft or penetrate the shields of the International Space Station.

In 2021, the ISS crew had to seek shelter when the station passed dangerously close to a cloud of Russian space junk. Such an event could cause a catastrophic hull rupture, depressurizing the living quarters faster than crew members could reach escape vehicles. The risk from debris is not confined to space. Due to the soaring number of rocket launches, the chances of someone on Earth being struck by debris during re-entry are increasing. Space environmentalist Ewan Wright from the University of British Columbia told Space.com that 124 rocket stages reentered the atmosphere in 2024. "If that level is sustained for the next decade, the risk of someone somewhere being killed by rocket debris alone is 33%," he warned. The UK mission aims to address part of this growing threat by actively removing large pieces of orbital debris.

With files from New York Post