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The European Space Agency (ESA) announced on Tuesday that ClearSpace’s future debris removal mission target, the VESPA payload adapter, was likely hit by other space debris. The ESA reported that a small, untracked object collided with the VESPA adapter, which has been left in orbit since a 2013 Vega launch. As a result, new debris from VESPA is now being tracked by ESA.

Further observations from the U.S. 18th Space Defense Squadron and ESA members have revealed that the main object remains intact and its orbit has not been significantly altered. The VESPA adapter is the intended target for ClearSpace’s upcoming ClearSpace-1 active space debris removal mission. Despite the collision, ClearSpace is continuing to plan for the debris removal mission and is currently conducting a full analysis of the debris event.

ClearSpace believes that this incident highlights the importance of its mission. The company stated that the most significant threat posed by larger objects of space debris is their potential to fragment into smaller objects, each capable of causing significant damage to active satellites. In order to reduce the risk of fragmentation events, urgent measures must be taken to minimize the creation of new space debris and actively mitigate the impact of existing objects.

ClearSpace aims to address these issues through its debris removal mission, emphasizing the need to reduce the creation of new space debris and actively mitigate the impact of existing objects. By removing the VESPA adapter and other debris, ClearSpace aims to contribute to the long-term sustainability of space activities and safeguard the functionality of active satellites.

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