Isar Aerospace has signed a launch service agreement with Astroscale Ltd, the UK subsidiary of Astroscale Holdings Inc., to launch the ‘ELSA-M’ In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) mission aboard the Spectrum rocket from Andøya Space.
The mission marks Isar Aerospace’s first end-of-life mission and a major milestone for Astroscale’s commercial debris removal services. ELSA-M will be the world’s first commercial end-of-life service for prepared satellites, capturing and removing an end-of-life Eutelsat OneWeb satellite. The 520kg servicer spacecraft will demonstrate active debris removal (ADR) capabilities to support sustainable space operations.
“We are thrilled to partner with Astroscale,” said Stella Guillen, CCO of Isar Aerospace. “This mission shows why customers opt to launch with us: we provide the flexibility to determine when payloads are launched to a target orbit.”
Nick Shave, Managing Director of Astroscale UK, added: “With Isar Aerospace providing both launch flexibility and orbital precision that our rendezvous mission requires, we are ready to deliver an ADR service that will enable a more sustainable space environment.”
The Spectrum launcher is designed, built, and operated entirely in-house, allowing the company to scale manufacturing. The ELSA-M mission is supported by the UK Space Agency through ESA’s ARTES programme as part of the Sunrise Partnership Project, a public-private partnership between ESA and Eutelsat. The agreement strengthens Europe’s space capabilities while advancing a circular economy in space.
