What is the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?

ELSA-d, built by Astroscale, is recorded as a deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) on the DEPLOY registry. Astroscale operates the deployment directly.

Who operates ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?

Astroscale, the manufacturer of ELSA-d, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.

When did the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) go live?

The deployment is recorded as starting March 22, 2021 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.

Is the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) still active?

As of the most recent verification on the DEPLOY registry, this deployment is no longer operating at this location.

Have there been incidents at the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?

No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

Deployment

ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)

Name: ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)
Start: 2021-03-22T12:00:00.000Z
Location: Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)

Servicer+client debris-removal demonstrator (175 kg servicer) testing autonomous rendezvous and magnetic capture.

ELSA-d by Astroscale · Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verified

Track ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)

Recent coverage

Astroscale Secures Series D Round Funding to Clean Low Earth Orbit, Bringing Total Capital Raised to US $102 MillionAgentRecon · 2018-10-31

See all coverage →

Machine-readable surfaces

Markdown mirror: /deployments/elsa-d-leo-2021.md
JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
REST API: /v1/robots/c3a16cb1-949d-45eb-b09c-632c73406e7c
Data documentation: /data
Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE

Courtesy of Astroscale

Astroscale's concept-of-operations explainer (an animation) for its ELSA-d debris-removal demonstration, which used a magnetic capture system. In the actual 2021 demo, a thruster anomaly led to the planned final autonomous capture being aborted, a partial result, not a clean success.

ELSA-d is a debris removal demonstration mission in low Earth orbit operated by Astroscale. The mission conducted a close approach despite experiencing thruster issues during operations.

Key facts

Outcome: Tested autonomous rendezvous + magnetic capture (debris-removal demo). The autonomous capture attempt was ABORTED after an anomaly (magnetic docking validated MANUALLY); lost 4/8 thrusters; deorbited 2024-01-24 (demonstrated, qualified - do NOT describe as a clean autonomous capture)

Safety record

No incidents on record for ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station).

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier: Catalog entry · 2 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated: 2026-06-28
Model: ELSA-d
Company: Astroscale
Location: Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)
Status: ended
First seen: 2021-03-22
ID: c3a16cb1-949d-45eb-b09c-632c73406e7c

Timeline

Mar 2021
First recorded
ELSA-d first documented operating at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station).
Mar 2021
created
Jun 2026
Current status: ended, reviewed
Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

ELSA-d operates in Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station). Explore the full verified map:

The global deployment map →

Sources (2)

Methodology: Verified · 2 sources (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-06-28

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-06-28

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: pilot

Lifecycle: superseded

Architectural position

Cohort: space

Sources by quality tier

2: unclassified; Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Common questions

What is the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?: ELSA-d, built by Astroscale, is recorded as a deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) on the DEPLOY registry. Astroscale operates the deployment directly.
Who operates ELSA-d at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?: Astroscale, the manufacturer of ELSA-d, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) go live?: The deployment is recorded as starting March 22, 2021 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Is the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station) still active?: As of the most recent verification on the DEPLOY registry, this deployment is no longer operating at this location.
Have there been incidents at the ELSA-d deployment at Low Earth Orbit (Tiangong Space Station)?: No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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