Doomed Satellite was Equipped With a Drag Sail to Deorbit it After its Mission was Complete

A team at Purdue University developed a drag sail to attach to satellites to help them de-orbit to combat space debris. Unfortunately, the rocket carrying the test device, launched by Firefly Aerospace, exploded shortly after launch. Space junk is a growing problem, with tens of thousands of small objects constantly whirling around the Earth. Each …