Astroscale shares rise 19% on $81 million space debris removal contract

By Kantaro Komiya

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shares of Japanese space startup Astroscale rose 19% on Monday, after the company said it would sign a 12 billion yen ($81 million) contract with Japan's space agency to remove debris from the earth's orbit.

Astroscale said its Japan unit would sign the five-year contract with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) on Tuesday.

The agreement will see the startup remove the upper stage of JAXA's H-IIA rocket, which was launched in 2009 and has been in orbit about 600 km (373 miles) above the earth's surface.

Astroscale will develop a new spacecraft named ADRAS-J2 that will equip robotic arm technologies to capture the target debris by March 2029, the company said in a statement.

Debris is increasingly becoming a risk for space missions, as the number of satellites in orbit has risen sharply.

A Chinese rocket stage that broke apart in space earlier this month created more than 700 pieces of debris in the latest addition to the hazardous collision risks.

($1 = 147.9200 yen)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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