A sail that increases atmospheric drag could force rocket stages out of orbit more quickly, reducing the problem of space debris (Image: ESA)
THE risk to spacecraft from a collision with space debris could be reduced by equipping launchers with a gossamer-thin “sail”. The idea is to deploy the sail after the rocket has released its payload to amplify the drag of the last vestiges of the atmosphere, and so force the rocket out of orbit.
Rocket stages are a particular risk to spacecraft because they often contain large amounts of unused fuel, which can explode when sunlight heats the…
