Engineers are set to test a device that could pull defunct spacecraft and used rocket parts back to Earth, allowing them to burn up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
Researchers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, are launching a prototype drag sail Thursday aboard a rocket made by Firefly Aerospace, a private space company based in Austin, Texas. The mission is designed to assess how well the kitelike sail can de-orbit the rocket’s spent upper stage.
The launch is scheduled to take place at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. PT.






The company behind the yacht is Swiss Sustainable Yachts (SSY), formed in2018by Dr. Adrian Beer, a passionate yachtsman and serial entrepreneur who also founded and is CEO of the GrupoBeer corporation which advises and assists companies recovering from natural disasters.