Japanese Spacecraft to Inspect Defunct Satellites in 2027, Advancing Space Sustainability
Astroscale, a Japanese space-sustainability company, has announced a mission named In-situ Space Situational Awareness-Japan 1 (ISSA-J1) set for launch in 2027. The mission aims to inspect two retired Japanese satellites, the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) and the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II). The ISSA-J1 spacecraft, weighing 1,430 pounds, will use thrusters and imaging systems to conduct detailed visual inspections of these satellites. ALOS, launched in 2006, lost power in 2011 but remains in orbit, while ADEOS-II, launched in 2002, ended its mission due to a solar panel failure. This mission follows the success of Astroscale's previous Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) mission.