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Astroscale pitches orbital 'bodyguard' craft to shield satellites
Space.com reports Astroscale says debris-removal and servicing tech can be reused as escort spacecraft, with U.K. talks but no bodyguard contracts signed.
Japan-based Astroscale, which has a large U.K. presence, says hardware built to capture debris and service satellites can be reused as escort spacecraft to keep other nations' satellites from getting too close to high-value assets, Space.com reported Tuesday1.
The company pointed to its ELSA-D mission, which ran from 2021 to 2024 and was described as the first commercial demonstration of orbital capture in low Earth orbit1. Space.com said no Western operator now matches the on-orbit inspector capabilities it attributed to Russia and China1.
The report tied the pitch to Russian close-approach activity, including Luch-1 and Luch-2 in geostationary orbit since 2014 and an October incident it described as the first rendezvous of two active low-Earth-orbit satellites without the target's consent1. It also said Germany's military space command chief, Maj. Gen. Michael Traut, has said Luch spacecraft have monitored European strategic communications1. Space.com said Cosmos 2612 was lingering about 298 miles (480 kilometers) from an ICEYE intelligence satellite in low Earth orbit1.
An Astroscale official identified as Godfrey told Space.com a bodyguard mission would cost on the order of 1 percent of a military-grade geostationary communications constellation such as the U.K.'s 8.4 billion-pound Skynet fleet1. "To build a bodyguard satellite is absolutely within the capability and the budget of a single country like the U.K.," Godfrey said, comparing escorts to a carrier strike group1.
Godfrey urged a pan-European patrol of clusters of assets rather than one spacecraft for the U.K.'s spread of geostationary positions1. Nick Shave, Astroscale's U.K. managing director, told Space.com the company is in discussions with companies and customers across Europe but has not signed contracts to develop bodyguard satellites1. He said U.K. funding for space-control development is promised from 2030 and that demonstrators need to be ready by then1.
