To achieve this, ESTCube-2 will also for the first time use electric sail (ore-sail) technology.
The satellites e-sail is an interweaved aluminium tether line 50 metres in length.
Its made up of 50-micrometre wires, no bigger than the average human hair.
This will slow down the satellite enough for Earths gravity to pull it deeper into the atmosphere.
Then, the atmospheric drag will eventually burn it up.
The whole process would take less than two years.
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ESTCube-2 is essentially a three-unit CubeSat a low-cost satellite made up of 10cm box-sized units.
ESTCube-2 will takeoff on Saturday onboard the ESAs Vega VV23 flight from Europes spaceport in French Guiana.
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW.
With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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