Current estimates suggest there are over 100 million pieces of space junk orbiting the Earth, ranging from debris the size of a penny to an entire rocket booster.

The number of satellites in low-Earth orbit (LEO) is also expected to increase dramatically over the next few years, which is raising concerns that involuntary collisions between operational payloads and space debris could occur in orbit.

The student-made cube satellite was built on a shoestring budget using off-the-shelf supplies available at most hardware stores, including 48 Energizer AA batteries.

Called SBUDNIC, the prototype was blasted into space on Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket last May as part of the Transporter 5 ridesharing mission and was designed to tackle the growing issue of space junk. For that purpose, the students added a plastic drag sail made from Kapton polyimide to understand the effect this could have on atmospheric re-entry.

About five years ahead of schedule, the small cube...