Portal Space Systems and Paladin Space plan debris removal service

WASHINGTON — Portal Space Systems, a company developing maneuverable spacecraft, is partnering with an Australian startup to offer a commercial orbital debris removal service.

Portal announced March 19 that it is working with Paladin Space to combine its Starburst spacecraft with Paladin’s technology to develop a service that can identify and capture small pieces of orbital debris.

Paladin has developed a payload called Triton that it says will be able to identify orbital debris and capture objects up to one meter in size, storing them for later disposal. The Adelaide-based company has yet to demonstrate its technology in space.

Triton will be mounted on Starburst, a highly maneuverable spacecraft that Portal announced last November with one kilometer per second of delta-V, or change in velocity. The ESPA-class spacecraft is set to make its first flight in late 2026 on a SpaceX rideshare mission.

Triton would be placed on a Starburst spacecraft launching in 2027 into what the companies described as a “heavily trafficked” low Earth orbit. Triton will be able to capture between 20 and 50 objects on a mission.

“This is about making debris removal operational, not experimental,” Jeff Thornburg, chief executive of Portal Space Systems, said in a statement. “For the first time, we can do that as a repeatable service.”

The companies did not disclose financial terms of the agreement or details about the commercial model they are proposing for debris removal. However, they said that commercial space station developer Starlab Space signed a letter of intent to use the service to support its future Starlab station, seeing it as another way to enhance the safety and operations of the station.

“Capabilities that reduce collision risk and limit the need for frequent collision avoidance maneuvers directly serve that mission: improving crew safety, reducing operational complexity, lowering propellant usage and supporting the extended mission lifetimes our customers and partners are counting on,” Brad Henderson, chief commercial officer of Starlab Space, said in a statement.

The companies, in their announcement, cited a 2023 NASA study that estimated U.S. satellite operators spend $58 million on maneuvers to avoid potential collisions with orbital debris. That, however, was a relatively modest amount and was dominated by military as well as civil operational satellites, such as Landsat and polar-orbiting weather satellites.

A follow-on 2024 report by NASA performed a cost-benefit analysis of some orbital debris remediation and mitigation techniques. While it did not include the specific approach being pursued by Portal and Paladin, it found that in some cases removing debris can be as cost-effective as techniques designed to mitigate the creation of new debris.