A Colorado-based small business is taking big steps to minimize a looming threat to valuable U.S. space assets.

With the backing of the Air Force Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) Program, MMA Design LLC created and successfully demonstrated a system to remove satellites from orbit that has attracted millions of dollars in investment from outside the SBIR program.

Also known as a deorbit module, MMA Design’s dragNET system can be added to an existing spacecraft late in the integration stage and is adaptable to various classes of vehicles.