Clearspace-1: A Victim of Its Own Mission

The target for the European Space Agency's ClearSpace-1 mission, a planned test mission to remove a leftover rocket adapter from low Earth orbit in 2026, has been struck by space debris. The 18th Space Defense Squadron of the U.S. Space Force detected new pieces of debris near the adapter, likely resulting from a collision with a small, untracked object. The incident highlights the importance of the ClearSpace-1 mission in addressing the threat posed by larger objects of space debris. Evaluations are ongoing to determine the impact on the mission, which aims to rendezvous, capture, and remove the adapter using a spacecraft from ClearSpace.