ECAPS, a leading manufacturer of non-toxic propulsion systems a Swedish space company that was established in 2000 by the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Volvo Aero, have signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the collaborative offering of orbital debris removal services. Starting in 2024, SSC and Bradford Space will offer orbital debris removal as a commercial service from Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.
The agreement was just signed at IAC 2021 in Dubai. The new services will address the issue of common orbits becoming increasingly congested as more actors are accessing space, creating a hazard to other spacecraft using these orbits.
A Bradford Space satellite bus, named ‘Square Rocket’, with significant delta-V capability, will be inserted into orbit via launch from the Esrange Space Center to then rendezvous with and de-orbit the debris. The target orbits are high-inclination polar, including SSO. The orbital debris removal service will be provided from the new spaceport facility now being built at Esrange Space Center that will be ready for launch in 2022. The service will showcase Sweden as a leader in debris mitigation and an advocate for a sustainable use of space.
“Bradford Space / ECAPS is very excited to team up with SSC for this venture, which is based on exceptional complementary capabilities from both Swedish entities”, said Patrick van Put, Managing Director for Bradford Space European operations.
“We are proud to collaborate with trusted partner Bradford Space / ECAPS to offer another valuable service from one of the world’s most versatile space centers in northern Sweden”, said Henrik Pettersson, Head of Business Development for SSC’s Science and Launch Services.
