Astroscale’s Nobu Okada Talks What Needs to be Done to Make Space Sustainable

Now in its fourth year, the competition for Via Satellite’s Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) award gets fiercer every year. More than 30 companies entered to win in 2021. Astroscale, which won for its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale-Demonstration (ELSA-d) mission, is a new generation of space company that is tackling one of the industry’s biggest issues — space debris. We caught up with Astroscale CEO Nobu Okada in London to talk about the latest on the ELSA-d mission, his vision for the company in the 2020s, and what the industry needs to do to ensure space stays a safe environment.

VIA SATELLITE: Congratulations to the Astroscale team on winning the Satellite Technology of the Year (STOTY) award. What does this mean to the company?

Okada: We thank you very much for this award. I believe it is a reflection of our dedication and commitment to space sustainability, and this is a win for our global team. ELSA-d is a satellite which our whole team has been working on. We are very happy to win this award.

VIA SATELLITE: Can you tell the story of how you founded Astroscale?

Okada: I had had nothing to do with the space industry. I was working in consulting and finance and working with the Japanese government. Just before I turned 40, I started to have a midlife crisis and was asking myself, what I should do during my 40s and 50s. I had a passion for space, so I attended a couple of space conferences to see what the hot topics were — Moon exploration, new rockets, etc. But, I realized that space is not sustainable anymore — this was back in 2013 — and no one had a solution for the problem. That lit a lightbulb in my head and all the dots in my life connected and I decided to solve this issue by starting a new company, Astroscale.

There are four words that explain space — space, cosmos, astro, universe. Astro as a word, is very old and has a Greek origin. Scale is an instrument to make a balance. So, I thought making a balance between development and environment is sustainability. So, that’s how the name Astroscale was created.

VIA SATELLITE: What did your wife think of this?

Okada: I needed to get consent from my wife. I was attending a space conference in Germany. Then, I came home and asked my wife whether we could have a coffee together in the morning. She was already sensing something. I told her I want to set up a company to clean up space debris. She said, "How much savings do we have in our bank account?” I said we have $400,000. She said "You can use $200,000 to start it." So, that is how Astroscale started.

VIA SATELLITE: Did she mention the term midlife crisis during this conversation?

Okada: She already knew. She was partially happy I found something I could devote myself to.

VIA SATELLITE: Let’s talk about the future. What is your long-term vision for Astroscale? Fast forward five years, what does Astroscale look like?

Okada: I have a clear mid-term goal. On-orbit servicing is revisionary today, but my goal is to make it a routine service by 2030. The United Nations has 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve by 2030 and companies/countries/individuals are working together to make the global economy sustainable. To make the global economy sustainable, we need to make sure that space is also sustainable. Our modern daily lives are completely dependent on space technologies, from transportation, navigation, communication, weather forecasting, agriculture, fishing, IT, and so on. That’s why I want to make on-orbit servicing routine by 2030.

So, what does it mean to be routine? In order to make space sustainable, we need to solve three pillars. Firstly, you have the technologies. Secondly, you have the economics. Finally, you have regulations.

Technology-wise, we have to mature the technologies and expand our applications and provide commercial services. We need to provide commercially affordable services like debris removal, orbit transport, life extension, SSA [space situational awareness], and so on. We have to have a volume of production beforehand. This is why we are developing a large facility in Japan. We are also developing a huge facility in the U.K., and we are looking to do something similar in the United States.

Regarding the economics, the good news is that there are more and more projects coming up and are capturing these opportunities by winning numerous global bids. The market is still nascent, but commercial companies see long-term interest value.

Regulations also take time, but, compared to 2013, there is now a strong awareness of the space debris issue. It is the era of acceptance — governments and the commercial sector accept we need updated regulations. Over the next four to five years, I am confident a number of countries will create more enforceable regulations.

VIA SATELLITE: Have you been surprised at the level of investment we are seeing with new satellites and capabilities? What does this mean from a space debris and sustainability angle?

Okada: I want to make an analogy. Let’s look at our highways. When the number of cars increased, you saw an increase in traffic jams and accidents. But, we never asked drivers to stop driving. Instead, we implemented traffic rules, traffic management systems, road services, and so on. I fully understand that more countries and commercial companies would like to enter the space arena, as there are applications we need. Investment in constellations for communications and constellations is a great thing, but what we need is more effective space traffic management and that is what we want to help manage.

I didn’t expect to see this level of growth in terms of density of satellites and that is why we have to quickly develop and scale up our technologies. Satellite constellations are not a new idea, they have been around since the mid-1990s. In 2014-2015, there were already some companies raising their hand to be in the constellation business and today, there are more than 100 constellation projects looking to begin services.

VIA SATELLITE: Can you give us an update on where Astroscale is with the ELSA-D mission? Has the issue been overcome?

Okada: ELSA-d has given us numerous learnings and experiences for our future missions and services. We launched ELSA-d in March last year, and then in August we successfully completed a test capture demonstration. This was achieved “manually,” meaning we set the commands line by line including setting the time the satellites change altitude, the time the servicer should face the client, and so on. We set every command.

From January this year, we began operations for an autonomous capture, meaning the servicer will capture the debris using on-board autonomous software and advanced ground processing of telemetry and commands. At the start of the operations, we successfully separated the client and the servicer and began autonomous tracking and relative navigation.

We then identified an anomaly, so we quickly stopped the demonstration. While the team investigated the issue, the servicer and client drifted apart and up to one point reached 1700 kilometers. Thruster anomalies happen and we have some limitations for future operations. However, using a complex mix of burns, aerodynamic drag, and the natural perturbations of Earth’s gravity, we successfully brought the servicer back to a distance where we can continue operations. It’s been a long journey back to this point. For each maneuver, we went through regulatory approval and checked the screening. We are now in the process to re-capture the client.

VIA SATELLITE: What happens next for ELSA-D?

Okada: In the near future, we will maneuver the servicer to get closer to the client at about 160 meters. We are now doing a simulation on the ground. Even from 160 meters, we want to make sure we have a safe capture plane, even with the limited number of thrusters. Soon, we will get to around 160 meters and re-capture, which could be in a couple of months. Our mission is not over.

VIA SATELLITE: How do you see the overall deal flow for Astroscale over the next two to three years, and the mix between commercial and government customers?

Okada: We are developing multiple services right now simultaneously. We are developing our multi-capture ELSA-M [Multi] debris removal satellite in the U.K. for constellations including OneWeb, and we have a lot of interest from other constellations currently. We are also developing ADRAS-J in Japan which was selected for Phase I of JAXA’s Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration Project. The spacecraft is an inspection satellite and will launch next year. It will identify and characterize objects in space. We also hope to develop ADRAS-J 2 for the second phase of the project which will be a debris removal satellite for existing large debris. This satellite will have the capability to capture and remove three ton objects in space. Our Israel and U.S. teams are also developing a life extension satellite – LEXI. So, over the next two to four years, you will see the launch of these satellites.

VIA SATELLITE: Has Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had any impact on Astroscale or will it have any impact on your future operations?

Okada: We launched our first two satellites with a Soyuz rocket and at this stage we don’t have any plans to launch with a Russian launcher in the near future. Looking at our supply chain, we are not currently working with any Russian companies. Bottom line, there is no impact for us.

VIA SATELLITE: Space is a global community. With potentially a new Cold War in space on the horizon, how will this impact space being a safe environment for all?

Okada: Astroscale’s interest is space sustainability and we will continue to educate all segments from commercial, civil, and defense. The biggest challenge in space is debris because we can only operate in safe and sustainable orbits. I don’t know if a Cold War in space will have a negative impact on the whole space sustainability question. But, if there is an unstable space environment, many will have to pay the costs.

VIA SATELLITE: Do you think the industry is taking the issue of space debris seriously enough?

Okada: If this award for ELSA-d means we are influencing industry, then this is a great sign for space sustainability. Awareness of space sustainability has increased a lot. However, we have not been successful in sharing the sense of urgency with some parts of the industry yet. We cannot wait as our orbits could be irrecoverable if collisions take place. If companies talk about sustainability, they should not generate new debris. Satellite operators are still prioritizing revenue and profits rather than securing long-term sustainability in space. This is why domestic and in-country regulations will be so important and each government is beginning to take action now. At the G7 in Cornwall last year, the nations committed to securing space sustainability and I hope each government will create more enforceable regulations.

VIA SATELLITE: Do you think at a time when sustainability is becoming such a huge issue (not just in the satellite sector), that this is the time for the space industry to be launching tons of new satellites into orbit?

Okada: I can see two scenarios. Firstly, by 2026, the space industry will accept that they have to pay for the cost of congested orbits and will lose money. If you look at the near misses in LEO, these are happening within one kilometer on a monthly basis. Up to 2020, it was around 2,000 times a month. In 2021, it tripled to 6,000 near misses, even before the Russian ASAT [anti-satellite test] in November 2021. We have reached a critical level when it comes to the density of objects in space. Now, satellite operators that are worried about collision avoidance, they have to stop the mission, perform the maneuver and then return to the location in one to two weeks. This is now a cost for them and will only continue to increase.

Looking at the industry, Starlink and OneWeb are already launching a lot of satellites, but these satellites will come to their end of life by 2026. They will have to lower these down and then launch new satellites and change the generation of satellites. By this time, LEO space traffic will be very congested and it could be quite tricky to launch in clear orbits. Operators will understand it is better to pay for services which will ensure space sustainability rather than looking at short-term interests.

VIA SATELLITE: As someone that is seen as a technology innovator, what do you think the next big technology is outside of Astroscale that the industry needs to move forward?

Okada: I would say on-board computing power. It’s available on the ground and is dramatically increasing like you see in AI technologies. In space, we are still using very old-fashioned on-board computers. But, once someone enables high-fidelity or super high speed on-board computing in space, this will be a gamechanger. We won’t have to downlink a lot of data, satellites can operate more autonomously – it will completely change satellite data business.

VIA SATELLITE: What do you see as the number one challenge that Astroscale must overcome to be successful?

Okada: Hiring and talent as there is a competition for talent globally. As of today, we have 270 employees and they are such a strong team. I am very proud of them. However, we have to grow our global team and we need to make sure we continue to hire great talent. We have five offices globally and want to find great talent in each region. However, it is not easy. We have to continue to focus on value, and developing our core DNA to attract the right people. VS