Space debris removal companies to watch in 2026

Space debris removal has moved from research papers to funded missions, but it is still an early market. Every mission so far has been a government-backed demonstration or a single-use contract. Here are the companies building removal and related in-orbit services, what they focus on, and where each one stands.

Astroscale (Japan)

The best known company in the field. Astroscale's ADRAS-J mission was the first to safely approach and characterize a large existing piece of debris, a spent Japanese rocket stage, using rendezvous and proximity operations. Its customers include JAXA, ESA, the UK Space Agency and the United States Space Force, and it offers inspection, life extension and removal.

ClearSpace (Switzerland)

ClearSpace holds the ESA contract for ClearSpace-1, a mission to remove the PROBA-1 satellite from orbit targeted for 2028. In October 2026 the UK Space Agency selected ClearSpace as prime contractor for the UK's first national active debris removal mission. It also develops satellite inspection and geostationary life extension.

Starfish Space (United States)

Seattle-based Starfish Space builds Otter, a small, electrically propelled servicing vehicle designed to dock with satellites for life extension and disposal. Its Otter Pup missions are validating rendezvous and docking in low Earth orbit.

D-Orbit (Italy)

D-Orbit is a space logistics company whose orbital transfer vehicles deliver satellites to precise orbits. Its work on end-of-life disposal and in-orbit transport makes it a frequent name in debris mitigation.

Aurora Propulsion Technologies (Finland)

Aurora builds compact propulsion and deorbiting modules that small satellites carry at launch so they can bring themselves down at end of life, a mitigation approach rather than removal of existing debris.

Standard SpaceWorX (Colorado, United States)

Standard SpaceWorX is a Loveland, Colorado company building space debris removal as a priced commercial service: a known price per object, sold on contract to satellite operators, insurers and government buyers, instead of a single-use demonstration paid for one object at a time. The company is in its formation phase, with intellectual property filings and non-dilutive funding applications in progress. Program details are shared under NDA. See the mission and the investor overview.

Removal versus mitigation versus servicing

• Active debris removal takes existing dead objects out of orbit. This is the only approach that reduces the debris already up there.
• Mitigation makes sure new satellites can dispose of themselves. It slows growth but does not remove legacy debris.
• On-orbit servicing inspects, refuels or extends working satellites so they do not fail in place.

All three matter. Only removal addresses the thousands of large derelicts that drive the long term collision risk described in our Kessler syndrome analysis.

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