Redwire Corporation, a leading provider of space infrastructure for the next-generation space economy, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Bradford Space and the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) to develop a commercial service to remove debris from Earth orbit. Through this collaboration, Redwire will expand the development team and add significant experience in space robotics and guidance, navigation and control (GN&C) to expand the commercial offering.
“This collaborative effort provides a commercial solution to address a critical need in the space environment. Preserving the space environment is critical to life on Earth and ensuring sustainable space exploration,” said Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President, Critical Components at Redwire. “Redwire’s robotics hardware and GN&C expertise, particularly from our Luxembourg facility, will enhance this capability. Through this collaboration, we have seen increased interest from our US customers in international partnerships, and we look forward to working with Bradford Space and SSC as we continue to strengthen collaboration between traditional and non-traditional space allies.”
“Bradford Space is pleased to welcome Redwire to the team. This company brings together strong space experience and exceptional complementary capabilities from each of the partners,” says Patrick van Put, Managing Director for Bradford Space’s European operations.
“We are proud to be working with proven mission partners Redwire and Bradford Space to offer another valuable service from one of the world’s most versatile space centers in northern Sweden,” says Stefan Gardefjord, CEO of SSC.
“The Swedish National Space Agency encourages the Swedish space industry to follow the United Nations guidelines on the long-term sustainability of space activities and we welcome an initiative of this kind,” said a spokesman for Sweden’s national space agency.
Debris removal services will address the issue of shared orbits becoming increasingly congested as more actors access space, posing a hazard to other spacecraft using those orbits. Redwire will contribute both robot hardware and GN&C capabilities for proximity operations and detection of both cooperative and non-cooperative objects. A Bradford Space satellite bus with signifA new Delta V ability called Square Rocket is launched into orbit, then to meet and exit the debris. The target orbits are highly polar, including the common sun-synchronous orbit.
At the 2021 International Astronautical Congress, Bradford Space and SSC previously announced the orbital debris removal service that will be deployed from the new spaceport facility currently under construction at the Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden.
