On 16 May 2025, ESA and the Spanish Space Agency (Agencia Espacial Española or AEE) confirmed their intent to collaborate on the proposed CApTure Payload Bay (CAT) in-orbit demonstration. The ESA CAT mission will test a standardised docking interface that will simplify satellite removal operations.
ESA’s Director of Operations, Rolf Densing, and AEE’s Cecilia Hernández Rodríguez, Director of Programmes and Industry, affirmed their intent to collaborate by considering the Spanish LUR-1 satellite as a candidate target for the CAT mission. As LUR-1 is already equipped with the Mechanical Interface for Capture at End-of-life (MICE), CAT could safely remove the LUR-1 satellite from its low-Earth orbit in a timely manner after it reaches its end-of-mission.
Spain and ESA coming together to collaborate on the CAT in-orbit demonstration would form a key stepping stone to make the ESA Zero Debris goal possible and constitute significant progress in enhancing safety and sustainability in space.
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