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A Japanese firm said Monday it had successfully launched a spacecraft tasked with inspecting potentially dangerous man-made junk floating around the Earth.<\/p>\n The European Space Agency (ESA) estimates that around one million pieces of debris from satellites and rockets larger than a centimeter\u2014big enough to “disable a spacecraft”\u2014are in orbit.<\/p>\n The Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan (ADRAS-J) is meant to rendezvous with and examine the remains of a Japanese H2A rocket floating in space for the last 15 years, Astroscale Japan said.<\/p>\n The probe was launched from New Zealand at 1452 GMT on Sunday, and Astroscale “has successfully made contact… and is ready to start operations”, project manager Eijiro Atarashi said in a statement.<\/p>\n The precise location and orbital position of the H2A upper stage rocket body, launched by Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) space agency in 2009 and around the size of a bus, is not known.<\/p>\n But using observation data from Earth, the estimated location will be determined and ADRAS-J will approach “from a safe distance” and then gather images to assess the structure’s movements and condition.<\/p>\n The ADRAS-J spacecraft\u2014which Astroscale says is the first of its kind\u2014was selected by JAXA for the first phase of a program aimed at removing large debris of Japanese origin in cooperation with private companies.<\/p>\n Junk like used satellites, parts of rockets and wreckage from collisions has been piling up since the space age began, with the problem accelerating in recent decades.<\/p>\n Potential solutions include using a laser beam to push objects into a new orbit and Astroscale’s own space “tow-truck”, which uses a magnet to collect and move out-of-service satellites.<\/p>\n The launch of the ADRAS-J mission came after Japan successfully blasted off its new flagship H3 rocket on Saturday after years of delays and two previous failed attempts.<\/p>\n It also followed the country’s successful landing last month of an unmanned probe on the Moon\u2014albeit at a wonky angle\u2014making it just the fifth country to achieve a “soft” lunar landing.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \u00a9 2024 AFP\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCitation<\/strong>: \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJapanese space debris inspection probe launched (2024, February 19)
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