E.Deorbit
cancelled mission to remove space debris
e.Deorbit was a planned European Space Agency active space debris removal mission developed as a part of their Clean Space initiative. The launch was planned for 2025 on board a Vega launch vehicle. Funding of the mission was stopped in 2018 in favor of the ClearSpace-1 mission, which is now under development.
Overview
A 1,600-kilogram (3,500 lb) spacecraft was to be launched on board a Vega rocket into a polar orbit at an altitude of 800–1,000 kilometres (500–620 mi). Once on orbit, the spacecraft would rendezvous with the derelict satellite Envisat which is in an unknown condition, inoperative, and probably tumbling.
Capture would be conducted in one of two ways: either by using mechanical tentacles or nets. The tentacles option included equipping the spacecraft with robotic arms, one of which will first capture a holding point, before the remaining arms embrace the derelict and secure it with a clamping mechanism. The net option included equipping the spacecraft with a deployable net on a tether, that will envelop the target derelict before the spacecraft will begin changing orbit. The net option has the advantage of being able to capture objects with a wide range of sizes and spins.
After successfully capturing the targeted derelict, the spacecraft would deorbit itself, performing a controlled atmospheric reentry.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “E.Deorbit” is cancelled mission to remove space debris. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Deorbit, cancelled and mission, not as a finished interpretation.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q23777532. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2025 and 2018.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “E.Deorbit” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.