Deorbitsail: A deployable sail for de-orbiting

Deorbitsail is a collaborative project funded by the European Commission. The Deorbitsail Cubesat mission will demonstrate in-space deployment of a large thin membrane sail and drag deorbiting using this sail. The sail will be deployed from an 11-by-11-by-34-cm Cubesat platform, which will have 3-axis attitude control. A set of four gossamer booms will deploy four triangular membrane segments to form the 5-by-5-meter drag sail. The Deorbitsail design is intended for space debris prevention, although it holds potential for additional applications in aerobraking and solar sail propulsion. A 2014 launch is planned. This paper describes some of the high-level design and the ongoing engineering goals of the project. © 2013 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.