Astroscale is a public, on-orbit servicing company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, committed to the safe and sustainable development of space. As the first private company dedicated to in-orbit servicing across all orbits, Astroscale develops innovative solutions for end-of-life services, active debris removal, in-situ space situational awareness, and life extension of satellites. They work with government and commercial stakeholders like JAXA, U.S. Space Force, ESA, and OneWeb to develop norms and technologies for responsible space operations, aiming to mitigate the growing hazard of space debris.
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Astroscale closed its Series F funding round with additional funding of U.S. $109,000,000 from a group of new investors led by THE FUND Limited Partnership in Japan.
Astroscale’s Series F is the largest funding round in the company’s history and brings the total amount the company has raised to U.S. $300,000,000.
The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) mission completed its first technical demonstration in orbit in August 2021.
Astroscale’s total amount raised reached U.S. $300,000,000 after the Series F round.
Astroscale’s Series F round is the largest funding round raised to date by the Tokyo-based company.
Astroscale’s global headcount reached approximately 250 team members after the post-October 2020 growth.
Astroscale plans to use the additional U.S. $109,000,000 to accelerate on-orbit services technology development, facility expansion, and global hiring.
Astroscale won a contract from the U.K. Space Agency in October 2024 to study deorbiting two defunct British satellites, including a possible OneWeb satellite that failed in 2023.
The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) spacecraft, selected by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency for Phase I of its Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration Project, will enter the assembly phase in early 2022.
Astroscale and Virgin Orbit entered a partnership on 2024-11-17 to examine cooperation in space sustainability, including the potential to launch as many as 10 Astroscale missions on Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne over the next decade and to study a future joint satellite servicing mission.
Astroscale closed its Series F round with additional funding of U.S. $109,000,000 from a group of new investors led by THE FUND Limited Partnership in Japan.
With the latest funding round, Astroscale has raised a total of $300,000,000.
Astroscale is preparing for the ELSA-d “capture without tumbling” phase, which is expected to be completed by the end of the 2021 calendar year.
Astroscale’s U.S. and Israeli offices are developing a geostationary satellite servicing system called Life Extension In-Orbit.
Astroscale raised $109,000,000 from European and Japanese investors in a Series F round on 2024-11-25.
The UK Space Agency awarded Astroscale and ClearSpace contracts totaling $1,000,000 to study a mission to remove two spacecraft from low Earth orbit by 2025.
Astroscale and ClearSpace are allowed to select which two spacecraft to remove under the UK Space Agency study contracts provided the spacecraft were sent to orbit under a U.K. license.
Astroscale’s Docking Plate is being launched at Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen, Germany during 16–18 November 2021.
Astroscale designed the Docking Plate to be customizable for different satellite designs with truss legs offered in three size options.
Astroscale plans to present the Docking Plate in the United States at a conference in spring 2022.