Nasa is set to carry out a series of wireless sensor experiments to test an advanced space wireless network and the Exo-Brake parachute device for returning small spacecraft to Earth with the help of the Technology Educational Satellite (TechEdSat-6).

The bread loaf-sized satellite was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on an Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft from Nasa’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, US, on 12 November.

On 20 November, the TechEdSat-6 was launched into a low-Earth orbit from the ISS’ NanoRacks platform to undertake its missions.

“The Exo-Brake’s shape can be changed to vary the drag on the satellite.”

The self-powered tests to be carried out by the satellite are expected to expand the capabilities of sensor networks for future ascent or re-entry systems.

Representing the fourth TechEdSat satellite, the TechEdSat-6 is equipped with an updated version of the Exo-Brake, which will demonstrate guided controlled re-entry of small spacecraft to safely return science experiments from space to Earth.

Naas Entry, Descent and Landing system capability lead Michelle Munk said: “The Exo-Brake’s shape can be changed to vary the drag on the satellite.

‘With the help of high-fidelity simulations, we will demonstrate a low-cost, propellant-less method of returning small payloads quickly, and to fairly precise locations, for retrieval.”

With the Exo-Brake project, Nasa intends to support the development of larger-scale systems that could help future small spacecraft missions to reach the surface of Mars and other places in the solar system, among other objectives.

The project is funded by the Entry Systems Modeling project within Nasa’s Space Technology Mission Directorate’s Game Changing Development programme as well as Nasa’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley and the agency’s Engineering and Safety Center in Hampton, Virginia.