Astroscale Japan Secures Contract for Phase II of JAXA’s Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration Program
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, announced that it has signed a contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) for Phase II of JAXA’s Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2) program, one of the world’s first technology demonstrations of removing large-scale debris from orbit. The contract is valued at approximately 13.2 billion yen (including tax). The CRD2 program aims to remove an unprepared Japanese upper stage rocket body, thereby addressing the increasingly critical issue of space debris. Unprepared objects in orbit pose an additional challenge as they have not been prepared with any technologies that enable docking or potential servicing or removal. The program is contracted in two phases, and Astroscale Japan was also selected for Phase I, where the company was responsible for the design, manuf...