Overview
- The government has committed more than £60 million to the UK Active Debris Removal programme and has chosen ClearSpace UK as the industry delivery partner for the project.
- The plan is to launch a refuellable, reusable robotic vehicle from Saxavord Spaceport in 2029 and lower two defunct satellites so they burn up on re-entry by 2032.
- Engineers are designing robotic capture systems—described in government material as multi‑arm ‘claws’—and work on rendezvous, proximity operations and refuelling is now under way in UK supply chains.
- Officials say the mission aims to protect vital services such as GPS, weather forecasting and communications from hundreds of thousands of high‑speed debris objects that can damage working satellites.
- UKSA frames the programme as the start of a homegrown in‑orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing industry that will strengthen supply chains, support tens of thousands of jobs and aim to grow into a billion‑dollar market.