I wonder if having a big origami paper sail that unfolds as the satellite nears EOL would increase drag significantly enough to help the satellite de-orbit faster. How does de-orbiting usually work anyway? Shoot a thruster in the direction of travel and slow down?
De-orbiting at a low orbit is often showing that without fuel and commanding, the satellite's orbit will degrade and it will burn-up within a few years (or even 25 years) due to the very minimal drag of the atmosphere that exists to some extent to thousands of km. Deliberately moving down faster is common, and deliberately moving satellites very far away to a "graveyard orbit" is also common.
Deploying sails to increase drag has been tested a few times in real missions, and is a common theme for university satellite projects and space-industry start-ups.
It seems the wood-structure cubesat format would be better for this. [0] The stated goal is to "solve the space trash problem" with space planes that burn up easier in the atmosphere. It seems like it doesn't need aerodynamics if the goal is to burn it as it reaches the part of the atmosphere where aerodynamics start to matter. The LignoSat was surprisingly functional in a near-vacuum and a second prototype is expected to deploy in 2026.
Deploying sails to increase drag has been tested a few times in real missions, and is a common theme for university satellite projects and space-industry start-ups.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LignoSat