Posted: Sat, Feb 15, 2020, 8:21 AM ET (1321 GMT)
Astroscale has won a contract from the Japanese space agency JAXA to inspect a discarded rocket stage. The contract, whose value was not disclosed, would cover a mission to rendezvous with and inspect a rocket stage left in orbit from an earlier Japanese launch. A follow-on mission would then attempt to deorbit the stage. Astroscale is the second company in recent months to be awarded a contract for a debris-removal mission. In December, Swiss startup ClearSpace received a European Space Agency contract to deorbit a derelict rocket upper stage in 2025.

Related Links:

•  SpaceNews article
•  Astroscale press release