40719 - DEORBITSAIL

The DeorbitSail project is a cooperation between Surrey Space Centre (UK), Caltech (USA), DLR (Germany), EADS Astrium (France), Stellenbosch University (South Africa), University of Patras (Greece), Athena-SPU (Greece), Middle-Eastern Technical University (Turkey), Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) (UK), ISIS (Netherlands).

The deorbiting capability of the DeorbitSail satellite is due to increased aerodynamic drag from the large surface area of the deployed sail in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO).

DeorbitSail will deploy a 4-by-4-meter, four-quadrant sail to demonstrate deorbiting. The spacecraft will be based on a 3 unit (3U) CubeSat standard structure, with dimensions close to 10 by 10 by 34 cm. DeorbitSail features power, communications, attitude control and data handling components in addition to its densely packed sail and deployment system. The sail will be able to change the satellite's orbit through drag and solar radiation pressure.

Facts in Brief

Launch Date: 2015-07-10
Launch Vehicle: PSLV-XL
Launch Site: Sriharikota, India