On Monday the 23rd of May starts the Clean Space industrial days at ESTEC. For 5 consecutive days, companies from all over Europe will gather together with us to discuss the technological break-through for tackling the space debris situation.

There is no need to remind you that space debris is a huge challenge for the space sector. Debris objects are a clear and pressing threat to new and existing space missions. Even tiny pieces of debris can damage operational satellites.

Impact chip

Impact chip

ESA is leading research and technological developments for reducing the current number of debris and to ensure that future satellites won’t increase debris population. For this we have initiated the e.Deorbit mission – that will be presented at the Ministerial this year – and the CleanSat project.

The e.Deorbit mission will demonstrate the active debris removal of a large item of space debris from LEO. Its objective is to capture a large, heavy, ESA-owned object and remove it from the orbit. e.Deorbit will be the world’s first active debris removal mission, and will provide an opportunity for European industries to showcase their technological capabilities to a global audience.

Robotic Arm

Clean Space supports the development of new technologies to allow future satellites to comply with regulations to mitigate the creation of space debris. The CleanSat technology programme is enabling a common European approach to the design of low-orbiting satellite platforms that are compliant with space debris requirements. CleanSat activities will give European industry a competitive edge in the application of space debris regulations.

atv_reentry

During the industrial Days, Monday and Tuesday will be dedicated to plenary sessions to set up the stage. On Tuesday evening, you should have a clear understanding of what are the challenges due to space debris, how to reduce their current and future population and why ESA has decided to actively remove large objects. Furthermore, you should know what the current status of the e.Deorbit mission and the CleanSat technologies development are.

The following days, parallel sessions for CleanSat and e.Deorbit are organized to go deeper into the on-going studies.

For detailed information, we have published the agenda of the Clean Space industrial Days here

In summary, this event will provide you with an insight to the technological advancement achieved to date in the fields of Space Debris Mitigation and Active Debris Removal. The Clean Space team is looking forward to seeing you there next week!

 

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