DebrisTechnology

SFL Performs Passive Deorbiting with Drag Sails

Yesterday, the Toronto-based Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) announced that it has achieved a major milestone in debris removal: successfully deorbiting a spacecraft without the use of propulsion. The 24-year-old laboratory used a drag sail to deorbit a nanosatellite within five years from a ~688km altitude, ~178 years more quickly than it would have without the sail.

Mission specs: SFL launched the CanX-7 mission in 2016. The 3.5kg nanosatellite completed a communications demonstration for providing aircraft situational awareness, then in May 2017 deployed the drag sails, beginning the passive deorbiting experiment.

“The mission verified that SFL’s lightweight drag sail technology is a more cost-effective and less complex method for deorbiting smaller satellites than traditional propulsion techniques,” mission manager Brad Cotten said in a press release.

Passive deorbiting: FCC regulations stipulate that satellites in LEO need to deorbit within 25 years after they finish service. Satellites below ~500km will re-enter within that time frame naturally due to atmospheric drag, but satellites in higher orbits, depending on their altitude, size, and shape, will take longer. Drag sails could be a cheaper, more lightweight solution to this problem than onboard propulsion systems.

+ ICYMI: If you’re in search of more information on orbital debris and what’s being done about it, look no further. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of our in-depth series on space junk.

Related Stories
MilitaryStartupsTechnology

Atomic-6 Wins $2M DoD Contract For Solar Array Tech

Atomic-6 won a $2M contract from SSC to continue development of its Light Wing solar array, which collapses to enable RPO and stealth missions.

DebrisPolicy

NOAA Proposes Terminating TraCSS Program

NOAA’s FY 2026 budget proposal, released yesterday, includes plans to gut the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) and terminate federal funding for the Traffic Coordination System for Space (TraCSS). While internal memos in April revealed the Trump administration’s designs to push the system into the private sector, the Congressional justification document formalizes the agency’s plan. […]

LEOStartupsTechnology

Xona Raises $92M For Unhackable PNT Constellation

Xona is one of many companies trying to solve PNT’s vulnerability problem.

BusinessStartupsTechnology

OrbitsEdge’s First Mission to Space is a Shoe In

OrbitsEdge’s Edge1 computing module will host a range of AI agents, including the first AI shoe designer in space.