Small Plasma Brake (APB-S)
Aurora Propulsion Technologies
Propellant-free deorbiting tether for CubeSats — fits TunaCan extra volume allocation, up to 400m tether, effective for satellites up to ~100kg on orbits up to 1000km.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 100 kg
- Payload capacity
- 100 kg
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Deorbit mechanism
- Propellant-free Coulomb drag microtether
- Tether length
- Up to 400 m
- Max serviceable satellite mass
- ~100 kg
- Effective orbit altitude
- Up to 1000 km
- Form factor
- TunaCan extra volume allocation
- Iod status
- Planned 2025
- Power
- < 1 W during deorbiting, 18 W peak
- Data interface
- RS422
- Mass
- < 450 g
About
The Small Plasma Brake (APB-S) is a propellant-free deorbiting solution designed for CubeSats, sized to fit within the ‘TunaCan’ extra volume allocation standard. It deploys up to 400 meters of an electrically charged microtether — thinner than a human hair — which interacts with the ionospheric environmental plasma to generate a Coulomb drag force that deorbits the satellite without consuming any propellant.
APB-S is effective for satellites up to approximately 100 kg across most LEO altitudes and remains effective for CubeSats on orbits up to 1000 km. It is planned for an in-orbit demonstration in 2025. A fully independent version is under development to allow compliance with 95% deorbiting requirements without requiring a full platform reliability analysis.
Documentation
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.