This article is about spacecraft propulsion by radiation pressure from sunlight. For propulsion by means of the solar wind, see electric sail and magnetic sail. For The Planetary Society spacecraft, see LightSail.
"laser sail" redirects here. Not to be confused with Laser (dinghy).
Space propulsion method using Sun radiation
IKAROS space-probe with solar sail in flight (artist's depiction) showing a typical square sail configuration
Solar sails (also known as lightsails, light sails, and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces. A number of spaceflight missions to test solar propulsion and navigation have been proposed since the 1980s. The first spacecraft to make use of the technology was IKAROS, launched in 2010.
A useful analogy to solar sailing may be a sailing boat; the light exerting a force on the large surface is akin to a sail being blown by the wind. High-energy laser beams could be used as an alternative light source to exert much greater force than would be possible using sunlight, a concept known as beam sailing. Solar sail craft offer the possibility of low-cost operations combined with high speeds (relative to chemical rockets) and long operating lifetimes. Since they have few moving parts and use no propellant, they can potentially be used numerous times for the delivery of payloads.
Solar sails use a phenomenon that has a proven, measured effect on astrodynamics. Solar pressure affects all spacecraft, whether in interplanetary space or in orbit around a planet or small body. A typical spacecraft going to Mars, for example, will be displaced thousands of kilometers by solar pressure, so the effects must be accounted for in trajectory planning, which has been done since the time of the earliest interplanetary spacecraft of the 1960s. Solar pressure also affects the orientation of a spacecraft, a factor that must be included in spacecraft design.[1]
The total force exerted on an 800 by 800 metres (2,600 by 2,600 ft) solar sail, for example, is about 5 N (1.1 lbf) at Earth's distance from the Sun,[2] making it a low-thrust propulsion system, similar to spacecraft propelled by electric engines, but as it uses no propellant, that force is exerted almost constantly and the collective effect over time is great enough to be considered a potential manner of propelling spacecraft.
^Georgevic, R. M. (1973) "The Solar Radiation Pressure Forces and Torques Model", The Journal of the Astronautical Sciences, Vol. 27, No. 1, Jan–Feb. First known publication describing how solar radiation pressure creates forces and torques that affect spacecraft.
^Jerome Wright (1992), Space Sailing, Gordon and Breach Science Publishers
Solarsails (also known as lightsails, light sails, and photon sails) are a method of spacecraft propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by sunlight...
A diffractive solarsail, or diffractive lightsail, is a type of solarsail which relies on diffraction instead of reflection for its propulsion. Current...
LightSail is a project to demonstrate controlled solar sailing within low Earth orbit using a CubeSat. The project was developed by The Planetary Society...
electric sail (also known as an electric solar wind sail or an E-sail) is a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using the dynamic pressure of the solar wind...
materials for optimizing a solarsail, for instance. Momentary or hours long solar pressures can indeed escalate due to release of solar flares and coronal mass...
radiation pressure, which aids in the calculation of a force on a solarsail. Solar irradiance is measured by satellites above Earth's atmosphere, and...
and control of a large, thin solarsail membrane (grey-blue areas numbered 3) Thin-film solar cells integrated into the sail to power the payload (black...
allocated funding. A preliminary mission outline suggests the use of solarsails propelled by high energy lasers to increase propulsion. The proposed...
between solarsail spacecraft. John Merton, a spaceship designer, develops and promotes a lightweight spacecraft with a large area of solarsail, to be...
the solarsail concept, NanoSail-D became the first such powered satellite to orbit Earth. As of August 2017, NASA confirmed the Sunjammer solarsail project...
magnetic sail is a proposed method of spacecraft propulsion where an onboard magnetic field source interacts with a plasma wind (e.g., the solar wind) to...
Solar Cruiser was a planned NASA spacecraft that would have studied the Sun while propelled by a solarsail. The mission would have supported NASA's Solar...
for a given solarsail's area. However, solarsails still need to be quite large compared to the satellite, which means useful solarsails must be deployed...
The fission sail is a type of spacecraft propulsion proposed by Robert Forward that uses fission fragments to propel a large solarsail-like craft. It...
February 2006. However the solarsail did not deploy fully. ISAS tested a solarsail again as a sub payload of the SOLAR-B launch at 23 September 2006...
camera, computer, communications laser, a nuclear power source, and the solarsail must be miniaturized to fit within a mass limit. All components must be...
feasibility of solar sailing, but the rocket failed shortly after liftoff. LightSail was originally conceived as a series of three solarsail experiments...
employs a solarsail to continuously modify its orbit in ways that gravity alone would not allow. Typically, a statite would use the solarsail to "hover"...
the late Robert L. Forward. It is propelled by a microwave sail, similar to a solarsail in concept, but powered by microwaves from a human-made source...
appears multiple times in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is equipped with a solarsail which was originally part of the concept for the Naboo royal starship...
technology that has been proposed to achieve higher speeds is an E-sail. By harnessing solar wind, it might be possible to achieve 20-30 AU per year without...
Outer Solar system) was a proposed mission concept to Trojan asteroids, which share Jupiter's orbit, using a hybrid solarsail for propulsion; the sail was...
Studios and The Planetary Society to test a solarsail in space. As part of the project, an uncrewed solar-sail spacecraft named Cosmos 1 was launched into...
pressure to drive momentum transfer and is the principle behind solarsails and laser sails. The second method uses the laser to help expel mass from the...
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