By Kurtis Archer | 2026-05-29

As Japan seeks to become a global leader in space sustainability, its national aerospace agency and a cadre of commercial space companies are establishing the nation as a standard-setter for on-orbit services.

These services, which include satellite refueling and Active Debris Removal (ADR), are boosting the competitiveness of Japan’s commercial space sector.

Japanese space-sustainability company Astroscale is leading the pack, and has patented a new way of tidying up the planet’s increasingly cluttered orbit. It is also developing an in-space satellite refueler for the US Space Force (USSF).

Space debris a burgeoning international problem that calls for a collective solution. Earth's orbit is increasingly crowded with thousands of pieces of defunct satellite and rocket hardware, and the risk of collisions is ever higher.

Traditional methods for removing large debris, such as rocket boosters, are often a one-way trip. A salvage craft grabs a piece of orbital debris and then dives into the atmosphere to burn up along with it.

This is both expensive and wasteful, as a perfectly good and valuable service vehicle is destroyed every time a single item is removed via this method.

Orbital cleanup plans

To combat space debris, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is leading an initiative called the Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2).

Launched in 2020, this project aims to prove the technology exists to clean up orbital space and to help private companies turn "space trash collection" into a viable business.

Because catching space debris in orbit is incredibly difficult, the project was split into two distinct stages: finding and inspecting; and capturing and removing.

The goal of the first phase was to prove that a satellite could safely find and approach a piece of "non-cooperative" debris -- defunct, broken or uncontrollable manmade objects that are floating in space.

JAXA selected Astroscale Japan's ADRAS-J satellite, which launched in 2024, to execute this phase of the project. This targeted the aging upper stage of a Japanese H-IIA rocket that has been drifting in space since 2009.

ADRAS-J successfully navigated to within 50 meters of the massive rocket part, performing fly-around inspections and proving it could precisely track an uncontrolled object in orbit.

With the tracking technology proven, JAXA moved into Phase 2 of the project. This phase, still in progress, is focused on the "heavy lifting" of orbital cleanup, via capture and removal.

Technology is being developed to capture the target debris and remove it by towing the object into a lower orbit so it can safely burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

The 'tag team' solution

Astroscale’s patent for heavy-duty, multi-object debris removal introduces a distributed architecture that serves as a relay system for orbital debris, summarized in the following steps:

• A spacecraft identifies a piece of debris and intercepts it.
• The spacecraft transports the debris to a vehicle in a lower orbit.
• This vehicle guides the debris into a controlled reentry over the ocean.
• The first spacecraft returns to deep orbit to locate more debris.

Because the main vehicle isn’t destroyed by its operations, it can be reused to catch multiple debris objects. This reduces the carbon footprint of what would otherwise be multiple launches.

This system also anticipates "unprepared" objects -- legacy satellites and rocket bodies launched decades ago without modern handles and docking ports.

"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," Astroscale said in a statement.

"Our distributed architecture solves a key challenge in orbital debris removal by enabling the deorbit and reentry of multiple large debris objects sustainably and economically," Astroscale CTO Mike Lindsay said.

"This approach allows us to reuse our advanced servicers, capable of capturing and detumbling multi-ton objects, instead of burning them up with the debris upon reentry."

Sustainability and security

Japan in January 2023 cemented a sweeping orbital partnership with the United States known as the Framework Agreement for Cooperation in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.

The agreement has significantly boosted US-Japanese collaboration, notably in the area of Active Debris Removal.

After the bilateral treaty was signed, US Space Force (USSF) awarded Astroscale US a $25.5 million contract for rapid delivery of an in-space satellite refueler, which is expected to launch in 2026.

The public-private partnership combines USSF funding with an additional $12 million provided by Astroscale and its strategic partners.

Manufactured by the Southwest Research Institute in Texas, the compact spacecraft bus, named Provisioner, is built to perform multiple refueling missions above geostationary orbit.

The highly maneuverable vehicle is equipped with a refillable hydrazine tank, and will service client spacecraft to establish a complete, in-orbit refueling ecosystem.

To prepare for flight operations, Astroscale US completed a four-week simulation campaign last summer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

This successfully optimized the Provisioner's software, navigation and sensors for precision autonomous Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPOs), as the spacecraft prepares to conduct the first-ever refueling of a USSF asset.

When refueling is made possible, a satellite is no longer limited by a fixed lifespan, and it can maneuver to avoid threats -- making orbital architecture far more resilient and unpredictable to adversaries.

ADR and RPO operations are dual use, meaning the same technology used to clean up orbital trash can be used to inspect a suspicious adversary satellite or move a vital allied satellite out of harm's way.

This turns a "cleaning service" into a "bodyguard service" for military assets.