Applied Aerospace & Defense has acquired Vestigo Aerospace, maker of the Spinnaker deorbit system.
Spinnaker drag sails are designed to deorbit satellites and launch vehicle components operating in low Earth orbit, helping operators comply with new licensing and regulatory requirements aimed at reducing orbital debris. Before the acquisition, Vestigo relied on Applied as a key supplier of advanced materials for its thin-film polymer sails and deployable booms.
Vestigo Aerospace founder and CEO Dr. David Spencer joins Applied Aerospace & Defense as vice president of deployable systems. Before founding Vestigo, Spencer served as a planetary mission designer, systems engineer and mission operations manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He also served as an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Purdue University.
“We are proud to join the Applied team and look forward to accelerating the evolution of Spinnaker® as a proactive and scalable solution for deorbit compliance,” Spencer said.
In 2022, the Federal Communications Commission adopted the “5-Year Rule” for new orbital licenses, requiring satellites to be deorbited within five years of ending operations. In 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed regulations that would require upper stage launch vehicle components to be deorbited within 25 years of mission end. Spinnaker provides a cost-effective option for space systems operating in low Earth orbit that must meet those requirements.