ClearSpace-1

ESA's first active debris removal mission, dispatching a ClearSpace-built capture vehicle to collect and de-orbit PROBA-1 - a 95 kg technology demonstrator launched in 2001 that has long outlived its intended service life.

The original target, VESPA - a structural adapter left over from a 2013 Vega launch - was dropped in 2024 after a 2023 hypervelocity impact scattered debris around it. PROBA-1 was selected as the replacement, though it was never designed for capture, making the rendezvous and containment the mission's central engineering challenge.