26 June 2019
LightSail 2 gets ready to make its debut in space
... to a week's long system testing by the project’s team members, in preparation for the unfurling of the dual-sided solar sails, approximately 2 weeks after launch day commenced. Both LightSails (1 and 2) have been designed and constructed by Stellar...
June 2022
Sunshades in space could help alleviate Earth’s climate crisis
... a total area of 1 million to 4 million km2. The sunshade can maintain its orbital location through the use of solar sailing. The idea of a planetary sunshade is not new. First proposed in 1989 by James Early, three decades of subsequent academic...
September 2020
Tackling space debris - a global priority
... methods are either passive or active. Passive methods generally refer to post-mission disposal manoeuvres using drag sails, solar sails, or some inflatable structure that increases the overall drag on the spacecraft, expediting the gradual decay...
October 2020
Superconductors - key to unlocking high power space missions
... space-proven polyimides and directly coated thin-film photovoltaic arrays integrated with the surface of a solar sail. The use of a flexible sail rather than rigid panels offers several benefits, such as a far superior stowing capability, radiation...
17 December 2018
Innovative mission to view the surface of exoplanets using small sats
...The array of detectors – the small sats – will use solar sails to slingshot themselves around the Sun at speeds of over ... would need to be under 10 kilograms to make use of a solar sail to achieve the needed velocity, and they would need to travel so...
October 2015
Russian business: a long road to the stars for private space initiative
.... They made a proposal to the Russian gas industry to light up the northern territories with a cosmic mirror based on solar sail technologies. The gas people didn’t take an interest in the mirror, but they were interested in satellite communication...
