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Tavernier Tschanz advised ClearSpace in its EUR 86 million contract with ESA for space debris removal

Tavernier Tschanz advised ClearSpace in its EUR 86 million contract with ESA for space debris removal

Deals and Cases

ESA, the European Space Agency, signed a EUR 86 million contract with ClearSpace SA to purchase a unique service, the first removal of an item of space debris from orbit. As a result, in 2025, ClearSpace SA will launch the first active debris removal mission, ClearSpace-1, which will rendezvous, capture and bring down for re-entry a Vespa payload adaptor. With this contract, a critical milestone for establishing a new commercial sector in space has been achieved. Purchasing the mission in an end-to-end service contract, rather that developing an ESA-defined spacecraft for in-house operation, represents a new way for ESA to do business. The contract is used as a first and a possible new business model for ESA in doing business.

Tavernier Tschanz advised ClearSpace SA in this transaction.

The team was led by Jacques Bonvin and included Thibaud Cottin.

 

November 2020