Cranfield University drag sail to stop student satellite becoming space junk

A student-designed and built device will help tackle the growing orbital menace of space junk by ensuring an experimental satellite burns up on the atmosphere.

A team from Cranfield University developed the drag sail, a de-orbiting mechanism for the European Student Earth Orbiter (ESEO) satellite. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the satellite into orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California yesterday evening (3 December).

The satellite features technology and experiments from 10 European universities, as part of a European Space Agency Academy programme designed to give students practical experience in the design, development, launch and operation of a real space project.

The Cranfield team’s mechanism will deploy a drag sail at the end of the satellite’s mission. The sail will collide with the few atmospheric particles on the edge of space, gradually slowing the ESEO down and reducing the time it takes to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up. The move will prevent the satellite from staying in orbit and contributing to the growing space junk problem.

“This has been a great team effort by the students, built on their dedication, innovation and perseverance,” said senior Cranfield lecturer Dr Jenny Kingston. “We are incredibly proud of what they have achieved and are excited to see the results of their endeavours on ESEO.”

The satellite will operate for six months, with a potential extension of another 12 months.

Piero Galeone, head of the ESA Academy, said: “ESA Education is immensely proud of the hard work and dedication of European university students and their institutions, of the critical technical support it received from across the agency and of the commitment of industry partners for making the dream of a student space project a flying reality.”