ADRAS-J approaches a rocket upper stage to 15 metres, then aborts on attitude anomaly

Between May and November 2024, the ADRAS-J inspection spacecraft approached a spent rocket upper stage, which Astroscale describes as space debris. Astroscale reports that the spacecraft first came within about 50 metres of the stage on 23 May 2024 and came within about 50 metres again on 14 July 2024. It completed three controlled fly-around operations. Astroscale reports that on 30 November 2024 the spacecraft reached about 15 metres from the stage, which it describes as the closest approach ever achieved by a commercial company to space debris using rendezvous and proximity operations. Two fly-around operations confirmed no major damage to the payload attach fitting. After the approach to about 15 metres, the onboard collision avoidance system triggered an autonomous abort because of an unexpected relative attitude anomaly. The spacecraft moved away from the stage as designed and did not reach the capture initiation point. Astroscale Japan was still investigating the cause at the time of the announcement.