News
Spinnaker Reaches TRL-8
Vestigo Aerospace has successfully reached Technology Readiness Level 8 (TRL-8) for its Spinnaker product line of dragsails, designed to provide deorbit capability for smallsats, orbital transfer vehicles, and launch vehicle stages. The environmental testing campaign included thermal cycling, quasi-static load testing, and vibration testing. The tests ensure that the Spinnaker dragsails are ready for operational use in the harsh environment of space.
What are Spinnaker Dragsails?
The Spinnaker product line of dragsails provides a low size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C) solution to meet FCC requirements. A dragsail is a thin-film membrane deployed by a set of lightweight booms. Once deployed, the dragsail accelerates the deorbit of the host vehicle through aerodynamic drag. The Spinnaker design enables dragsail deployment via command from the host vehicle or autonomously based upon a stored deployment time, providing deorbit capability even if the host vehicle is inoperative. The result is a deorbit system with a higher reliability than the use of on-board propulsion and eliminates the need to deorbit the host vehicle prior to the end of its useful life. Within the Spinnaker form factor, there are two configurations: S2 and S3. The only differences between S2 and S3 are the boom lengths and the sail quadrant areas; all other design elements and interfaces are identical. S2 is sized for 16U CubeSats and larger, up to ESPA-class small satellites. S3 is sized for small satellites up to 400 kg in mass. The SpinnakerMAX form factor includes the S4 and S5 configurations. SpinnakerMAX has the same basic design as Spinnaker, but the form factor is increased to accommodate longer booms and larger stowed volumes for the sail quadrants. S4 and S5 are sized for satellites and launch vehicle stages up to 1,000 kg in mass.
Spinnaker dragsails offer straightforward integration with the host vehicle, with a simple bolt-on mechanical interface and a single electrical connection. All Spinnaker dragsails employ radiation- hardened electronics and life-tested batteries to ensure reliable deployment after 5 years on-orbit. Sail material is designed to withstand the on-orbit environment throughout the deorbit phase, including degradation due to atomic oxygen. The Spinnaker design is required to have an end-to-end reliability of greater than 99% for sail deployment and deorbit operations. The Spinnaker product line is designed to allow customers to meet streamlined FCC Part 25 licensing requirements (reducing FCC application fees by over $440,000) and comply with the FCC’s 5-year deorbit rule which goes into effect in September 2024.
If you are interested in learning more about Spinnaker dragsails, contact us at info@vestigoaerospace.com.
