Animation: Spinnaker3 drag sail attached to a launch vehicle in space
Channel: Purdue Engineering
Date: 2020-09-02

This animation shows Spinnaker3 attached to a launch vehicle in space. Spinnaker3 is a drag sail, developed by Purdue University engineers, that will be on board a Firefly Aerospace rocket set to launch on Sept. 2, 2021. 

Spinnaker3's name included a  "3" because of the three-meter long carbon fiber booms that pull out a sail with an area of 194 square feet.  Spinnaker3 isn’t the first drag sail to be launched into space, but it is among the first to be large enough for deorbiting the upper stage of a launch vehicle. The Firefly Alpha launch will target an orbit altitude of about 200 miles and the Spinnaker3 drag sail is capable of providing deorbit capability from orbit altitudes of 400 miles or greater.

Full story on the Spinnaker3:  https://bit.ly/drag-sail-launch

Animation by Jackson Spencer

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