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GallantChaos t1_jczf6o4 wrote

Reply to comment by Due_Start_3597 in 10 months after its launch by SpaceX, a $10,000 satellite made by students with off-the-shelf materials and powered by 48 Energizer AA batteries, is not only working, it's demonstrating a way to reduce space junk by lughnasadh

I see two possibilities for why this may not be:

  1. Those thrusters may be necessary for collision avoidance during the deorbit phase. (to prevent hitting in-service satellites)

  2. The thrusters are used and depleted to keep the satellites in orbit - and thus in service - as long as possible.

Adding a parachute like this may help increase drag and can be deployed with little additional cost/mass.

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burnbabyburn11 t1_jd1z0zl wrote

Gyroscopes bro

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Zkootz t1_jd2cudw wrote

What would a gyro do more than rotate the satellite?

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Mackie_Macheath t1_jd2j9hh wrote

Orient the satellite different so the chute creates less drag or move even over the long trajectory slightly sidewards.

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Thelastosirus t1_jd63mfo wrote

You are literally describing the Lightsail satellite experiment that went into orbit awhile back. It's meant to increase orbit using the pressure from the sun based off the angle of the sail, sort of like a wind sail. Just to keep you from wondering it actually works!

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