Astroscale’s ADRAS-J Mission Completes Operations, Begins Deorbit
After 293 days in orbit, the world’s first commercial debris inspection satellite begins controlled deorbit.
Tokyo, Japan, Mar. 25, 2026 –Astroscale Japan Inc. (“Astroscale Japan”), a subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc. (“Astroscale”), the market leader in satellite servicing and long-term orbital sustainability across all orbits, announced that its commercial debris removal demonstration satellite, ADRAS‑J, has begun deorbit operations. The move marks the conclusion of the world’s first mission to successfully approach and capture close‑range images of a large piece of actual space debris.1
ADRAS-J has already lowered its orbital altitude to a level that allows for natural orbital decay and atmospheric re-entry within five years. It will continue with additional orbit-lowering operations and is planned to eventually re-enter the atmosphere, where it will burn up.
Developed and operated by Astroscale Japan, ADRAS‑J was designed to demonstrate essential Rendezvous and Proximity Operations (RPO) technologies. These capabilities are the baseline for future on-orbit services, including debris removal, and are often described as “roadside services in space.” The mission was conducted as Phase I of the Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration (CRD2), led by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Since its launch in February 2024, ADRAS‑J achieved a series of historic milestones while in proximity with a non‑cooperative rocket upper stage (measuring about 11 meters long, 4 meters wide, and weighing roughly 3 tons). These achievements include a long‑range approach, capturing images of the debris, fly-around observations, approaching within 15 meters of the debris, and successfully validating the spacecraft’s autonomous collision‑avoidance capabilities.
The mission also captured images of the Payload Adapter Fitting, the structure targeted for capture in the upcoming ADRAS‑J2 mission as Phase II of the CRD2. These results advance Japan’s leadership in debris removal technologies and represent a critical step toward achieving the world’s first debris removal mission originating from Japan2.
“The challenge of designing entirely new technology to conduct full‑range RPO with a non‑cooperative object was far more difficult than expected,” said Eijiro Atarashi, ADRAS‑J Project Manager at Astroscale Japan. “Yet every navigation phase exceeded our predictions. Even when the satellite initiated an abort maneuver during approach, the team’s calm decision‑making and robust engineering enabled a safe recovery and multiple successful approaches. This experience has provided invaluable insights into an ideal on‑orbit service system, and will undoubtedly strengthen our upcoming missions.”
“With the successful demonstration of RPO technologies through this mission, Astroscale has achieved a major competitive advantage in the on‑orbit services market,” said Nobu Okada, Founder & CEO of Astroscale and Managing Director of Astroscale Japan. “We are deeply grateful to JAXA, our partners, investors, suppliers and the Astroscale team for their support. We look forward to advancing toward our future missions.”
The ADRAS‑J2 mission — planned for launch in fiscal year 2027 — will aim to approach, observe and remove the same debris targeted by ADRAS‑J. Development and testing of the spacecraft are currently underway.
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1 Based on Astroscale internal research as of December 2024.2 Based on publicly available information as of January 2026.
