PW-Sat2 (PWSat-2, PW-SAT2)

Demonstrate solar sail for deorbiting and sun sensor.

Test two innovative engineering solutions for deorbitation system and sun sensor device. Main experiment – a 2 x 2 m deorbit sail will dramatically decrease the lifetime of the satellite’s orbit after mission end (planned 40 days). There will also be a custom designed Sun sensor consisting of four specially aligned walls with ambient light sensors.

Sail deployed, but degraded just after deployment - major damages within a week and slow degradation within the next few weeks. The reason isn't confirmed yet, but leading hypothesis is that temperature gradient between sail foil and arms leads to tension and breaking the foil.