Success Story
Gama Space
Gama is a French space start-up developing sails for space – firstly dragsails to deorbit spacecraft, subsequently solar sails to explore deep space at a fraction of today’s cost. Gama’s flagship product, Astrobrake, offers an economical, autonomous and reliable solution for passively deorbiting satellites, rocket stages and space station components, while fully complying with international space regulations.
Gama Space’s Challenge
For their first orbital demonstration, they needed a compact and reliable deployment solution that could function autonomously and withstand years in orbit. The design constraints were challenging: a 0.5U form factor, no power or fuel, a 4+ year dormancy period, and just 50 mm of clearance between hinge and release nut. They also needed something resettable for rapid testing.
Dcubed Solution
Dcubed’s nD3RN actuator was selected and quickly adapted to Gama’s tight specs. Its compact size, fast reset process, and simple mounting made integration and testing fast and efficient. The ability to test and reset within minutes accelerated development dramatically.
Dcubed Impact
For Gama Space, the greatest advantage of working with Dcubed has been the combination of technical impact and an outstanding working experience. That includes helping them solve design challenges, accelerating the development timeline and providing all the supplementary support and documentation required.
And the results speak for themselves. Astrobrake-S Gen0 reached TRL8 in early 2025 and is headed for launch in Q4. Gama has now selected the Dcubed nD3RN actuator again for Astrobrake Gen1, which will feature a larger sail, longer lifespan, and customizable deployment logic. Proof, if any were needed, that in Dcubed, Gama Space has found a partner it can rely on for the evolution of its space sail technology.
