ESA’s Cubesat Successfully Develops Drag Screens to Overcome Space Junk

The European Space Agency (ESA) has successfully deployed the drag screen on a small cuboid or cubesat former to aid in dragging spaceship out of orbit. A device called the Drag Augmentation Deorbiting System (ADEO) was deployed from the orbiting satellite carrier Ion in late December 2022.

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This drag screen prototype can help solve the growing problem of space junk. The screen will help capture more atmosphere over a weak Earth, allowing cubesats to land in months, not years.

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A 3.6 square meter aluminum-coated polyamide membrane screen provides a passive deorbiting method. “It enhances the atmospheric surface drag effect and causes an accelerated decay in the satellite’s orbital height,” ESA said in a statement quoted from the Space page, Thursday (9/2/2023).