With humanity venturing back further and further into space, the problem of avoiding orbital debris becomes an ever-difficult problem. Larger debris can be tracked well, however smaller debris that can be equally as hazardous can only be described using stochastic models that estimate debris flux for certain orbits. 

The OKSat team aims to validate some existing small debris models using a cost-effective approach via CubeSat. The team is putting together a 3U CubeSat that will feature a dual-mission payload to tackle the problem of tracking small orbital debris. The 1U payload will feature two cameras, a free tumbling deployable object, and a deployable sail that will catch debris and monitor debris flux. 

The first mission this CubeSat will be tasked with will be to deploy a small tumbling object, and use existing algorithms in combination with an on-board camera to determine the tumbling state of that object. This will serve as a model validation and technology demonstration for the ability to use space-grade hardware to determine characteristics about the object such as distance and angular rotation.

The secondary mission for this CubeSat will be to deploy a large ~1m x 1m sail with the intent of this sail being punctured by microdebris. An onboard camera will beam down daily images of this to determine when a hit occurs an of what magnitude. This data can be used to confirm existing estimates of debris flux for certain orbits and provide new insights into what exactly is in orbit.