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And to answer the cost question, Astroscale is charging $8-100 million [0] per LEO junk removal mission (small numbers for small failed comms sats, big numbers
by dmurray 1y ago
And to answer the cost question, Astroscale is charging $8-100 million [0] per LEO junk removal mission (small numbers for small failed comms sats, big numbers for a spent upper stage).
The objects in the article are all at the bigger end. Presumably Aeroscale have started with a technically easier mission than some of the 50 in the article, but they will also eventually benefit from economies of scale. So you can estimate the cost to remove the 50 bodies in the single digit billions.
[0] https://www.kratosspace.com/constellations/articles/astroscale-poised-for-450m-revenue-with-satellite-debris-removal-and-life-extension-services https://www.kratosspace.com/constellations/articles/astrosca...
- ggm 1y ago"Is charging" for an activity which is wreathed in hypotheticals. Surely it's "proposes charging"?
- dmurray 1y agoNo, it's signed two contracts already according to the link. I'm sure the contracts are more complicated than "this amount of money for this job" but the price, at least, is not hypothetical.
- mr_toad 1y agoStarship launch costs are hypothetical, but pundits are estimating one to two hundred dollars per kg, or about ten million per launch. This would shave a significant amount off the cost of launching something big enough to de-orbit a large target, like an upper stage. Still, even if you spitball a figure like 20 million for each removal that’s still a billion dollars in total.