SpaceMiningData
PayloadOtherEnded

TransAstra 1-meter Capture Bag ISS demonstration

A 1-meter inflatable Capture Bag delivered to the International Space Station in September 2025 and deployed inside Voyager Space's Bishop airlock, where astronauts evaluated it under simulated orbital conditions; TransAstra reported the demonstration complete on 2 October 2025. The bag is intended for capturing orbital debris and, in larger versions, small asteroids; no asteroid material was involved.

Objective. Validate design features of an inflatable capture structure intended to envelop orbital debris and, at larger scale, small asteroids for resource use (operator statement).

No level assigned

Facts

Kind
Payload
Mission type
Technology demonstration
Target
OtherInternational Space Station (Bishop airlock)
Launch
2025-09
Phase
EndedOperator press release dated 2 October 2025.
Outcome
SuccessBasis: operator statement
Why it is included
Stated resource objective

Outcome statement (operator statement)

TransAstra completed a successful demonstration of its Capture Bag technology on the ISS on Oct. 2, 2025.

Participants

Operators, payload owners, carriers and customers are recorded separately.

OrganizationRole
TransAstraOperator
National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationFunder

Open evidence gaps

  • NASA, ISS National Lab or Voyager Space confirmation of the demonstration.
  • Cargo vehicle and exact delivery date.
  • The ISS and Bishop airlock have no mission record here, so no host mission is linked.
  • The 23 Sept 2025 release described testing 'in the vacuum of space in an airlock on the exterior of the ISS', while the 2 Oct 2025 release describes evaluation inside the Bishop airlock simulating orbital conditions.

Sources

5 sources
  1. [1]TransAstra Demonstrates Asteroid Capture and Orbital Debris Cleanup Technology
    Trans Astronautica Corporation (via Newswire)Company statementPublished 2025-10-02Accessed 2026-09-25Supports: outcome, phase
    TransAstra completed a successful demonstration of its Capture Bag technology on the ISS on Oct. 2, 2025.
    Quote matched the source text when accessed.
  2. [2]TransAstra Demonstrates Asteroid Capture and Orbital Debris Cleanup Technology
    Trans Astronautica Corporation (via Newswire)Company statementPublished 2025-10-02Accessed 2026-09-25Supports: target site, summary
    The Capture Bag was deployed in Voyager Space's Bishop airlock, where astronauts conducted evaluations simulating orbital conditions.
    Quote matched the source text when accessed.
  3. [3]TransAstra Demonstrates Asteroid Capture and Orbital Debris Cleanup Technology
    Trans Astronautica Corporation (via Newswire)Company statementPublished 2025-10-02Accessed 2026-09-25Supports: participants
    The Capture Bag was built and flight-qualified through NASA and Space Force SBIR funding.
    Quote matched the source text when accessed.
  4. [4]TransAstra Secures $5M to Scale Asteroid Capture Technology With NASA and Private Investment
    Trans Astronautica Corporation (via Newswire)Company statementPublished 2025-09-23Accessed 2026-09-25Supports: launch date
    TransAstra's 1-meter Capture Bag was delivered to the International Space Station (ISS)
    Quote matched the source text when accessed.
  5. [5]TransAstra Secures $5M to Scale Asteroid Capture Technology With NASA and Private Investment
    Trans Astronautica Corporation (via Newswire)Company statementPublished 2025-09-23Accessed 2026-09-25Supports: objective, inclusion basis
    The 10-meter bag is also big enough to capture small asteroids for enclosure to enable mining operations in space.
    Quote matched the source text when accessed.