Low-Cost Student Satellite Uses Innovative Method to Combat Space Debris.

A team of students from Brown University has built a CubeSat called SBUDNIC that has successfully demonstrated the use of a drag sail to help degrade the satellite's orbit and push it back into the Earth's atmosphere faster than would otherwise have occurred. The drag sail was designed to help de-orbit the satellite at the end of its life span and avoid adding to the growing problem of space debris caused by defunct hardware cluttering up Earth's orbit. SBUDNIC's design information is available to the public so that other amateur and student groups can emulate and modify its designs.