Deploying a drag sail

Space is getting crowded. Old satellites, rocket bodies and fragments of both are leaving little space for new satellites to reside in that is free from debris.

The risk of collision with debris and even functioning satellites is increasing, especially in low-Earth orbit, putting many of Earth’s climate, ocean and land monitoring missions in harm’s way.

ESA is working alongside private businesses to clean up space by developing new missions and technologies that will remove debris from orbit. No space agency or business could solve the debris problem alone, but if it becomes technologically feasible – and profitable – to take care of our space environment, it will be much easier to do so.

ESA’s General Support Technology Programme and the space technology company HPS GmbH are working together to do just this, by developing ‘drag sails’ known as the Drag Augmentation Deorbiting Subsystem (ADEO). 

These sails help speed up a spacecraft's descent into Earth's atmosphere where it will burn up after its mission is over. This reduces the chance that it will be involved in a collision, and frees up the useful orbit for another satellite.