Design a deployable drag sail that accelerates orbital decay for end-of-life deorbiting. Validate deployment mechanism reliability and measure actual deorbit rate versus predictions to support space sustainability efforts.
Design a deployable drag sail that accelerates orbital decay for end-of-life deorbiting. Validate deployment mechanism reliability and measure actual deorbit rate versus predictions to support space sustainability efforts.
This is a intermediate-level project with an estimated timeline of 16-22 months using a 1U form factor.
Space debris is one of the most pressing challenges facing the orbital environment. Regulations increasingly require that satellites deorbit within a set number of years after their mission ends, and a drag sail is one of the simplest ways to make that happen. The concept is straightforward after the mission is complete, a large, lightweight membrane unfolds from the satellite, dramatically increasing its cross-sectional area and therefore its atmospheric drag. This accelerates orbital decay from decades to months or even weeks, ensuring the satellite reenters and burns up rather than becoming long-lived debris. The engineering challenge lies entirely in the deployment mechanism: folding a membrane many times larger than the satellite into a compact package, restraining it reliably through the violence of launch, and then deploying it on command with high confidence in a single irreversible event. This is primarily a mechanical engineering project students design the fold pattern, boom geometry, restraint and release system, and deployment sensing. The experiment validates that the mechanism deploys successfully and then measures the actual deorbit rate against orbital mechanics predictions. Space sustainability is a growing concern across the industry, making this project highly relevant to current regulatory and commercial trends.
Compact 0.25-0.5 m² Mylar or Kapton membrane with tape-spring booms (beryllium copper or spring steel) and nichrome burn-wire release. Fold membrane into Z-fold or spiral pattern to fit within 0.5U-1U volume. Deployment sensing via limit switches or hall-effect sensors on boom tips. Instrument with accelerometer (ADXL355, I2C) to detect drag changes post-deployment. GPS position logging for orbital decay measurement. Redundant deployment: primary burn-wire + timer-based backup.
Warsaw University of Technology PW-Sat2 (2018) successfully deployed a 2 m² deorbit sail one of the best-documented student CubeSat deployable mechanisms. Athens ?INIX-1 tested CubeSat drag sail under ESA Fly Your Satellite! program in 2025. Deployment mechanisms are historically the highest-risk CubeSat subsystem extensive ground testing (thermal-vacuum, vibration, deployment cycling) essential. FCC 25-year deorbit rule and international guidelines make this commercially relevant. Primarily a mechanical engineering project ideal for ME students with FEA, mechanism design, and prototyping skills. Cost: $200-$1,500 for membrane + booms + deployment mechanism. Complexity: intermediate-to-high.
This project spans 4 disciplines, making it suitable for interdisciplinary student teams.
Ready to take on this project? Here's a general roadmap that applies to most CubeSat missions:
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