Tiny cube to tackle space debris

I nifty idea is under development at the Surrey Space Centre in the UK: a little cube that attaches to dead satellites or other space junk, deploys a sail, and drags them out of orbit faster than they would on their own. It’s very much like a parachute that deploys to slow down a dragster faster than it would on its own.

It’s also written up here.

CubeSail. Photograph: EADS/Astrium/Surrey Space Centre

They’re aiming to demonstrate their idea next year.