Brown University, based in the United States, has conducted an experiment with which it intends to conduct reduce the cost of satellites and their time in orbit around the Earth. Although it doesn’t usually appear in the media, space debris, which is made up in part of man-made satellites that are no longer in use, has become a growing problem that threatens to jeopardize future space missions or launching new ones into orbit. device.

Developed by students at Brown University, the satellite includes a 3D-printed trailing sail that acts as an altitude control mechanism, components that can be found on Amazon and other off-the-shelf stores, a processor Arduino Nano BLE which costs about $20 and also works with 48 AA batteries. The total cost of the control system, including the processor, motherboard and other parts, is only $175while it cost about $10,000 to launch into orbit.

Continuing with other characteristics of the satellite, it is a 3U CubeSat type, has dimensions of 10 x 10 x 34.05 centimeters and is capable of offering low resolution images. In addition to reducing costs, the sail has been designed to drastically reduce the maximum lifetime of the satellite, which should translate into faster de-orbit and less debris orbiting our planet. was baptized as wake upwhich is a reference to Sputnik 1.

One of the engineers involved in the project estimates that most satellites remain in orbit for decades, even long after they are no longer in use. Launched into space in May 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, SBUDNIC deployed its sail at an altitude of 520 kilometers and is expected to leave orbit within five years.

Tracking data collected by the US Air Force Space Command shows this SBUDNIC comes out faster than other similar devices which are in space and that they are about to re-enter as the satellite is now at an altitude of 470 kilometers. Other small devices launched with the same rocket are still orbiting above 500 kilometers, so it can be said that SBUDNIC seems to be fulfilling one of its purposes.

Brown University students and professors began development of SBUDNIC in collaboration with the United States National Research Council’s Institute for Atmospheric Pollution, with support from Italy’s D-Orbit aerospace company, AMSAT-Italy. , La Sapienza University of Rome, and the NASA Space Grants Consortium in Rhode Island.