NASA launches a cubeSat with a solar sail that would change space travel

The NASA has successfully launched a cubeSat into orbit that will be powered by a new sail technology capable of rotating in search of the solar wind, known as the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System.

Launched aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket from New Zealand, this mission can advance future space travel and expand our understanding of our Sun and solar system, according to the space agency.

Solar sails use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, tilting toward or away from the Sun so that photons bounce off the reflective sail to push a spacecraft. This eliminates heavy propulsion systems and could enable longer duration, lower cost missions. Although the mass is low, solar sails have been limited by the material and structure of the booms, which act much like the mast of a sailboat. But new technology addresses these drawbacks.

The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System mission uses a twelve-unit (12U) CubeSat built by NanoAvionics to test a new composite boom made of flexible polymers and carbon fiber materials that are stiffer and lighter than previous boom designs. The primary goal of the mission is to successfully demonstrate the deployment of the new boom, but once deployed, the team also hopes to demonstrate the performance of the sail.

Like a sailboat that turns to catch the wind, the solar sail can adjust its orbit by tilting its sail. After evaluating the deployment of the booms, the mission will test a series of maneuvers to change the spacecraft’s orbit and collect data for possible future missions with even larger sails.

“The arms tended to be heavy and metallic or made of a lightweight composite with a bulky design, neither of which work well for today’s small spacecraft. Solar sails need very large, stable, lightweight arms that can fold compactly,” said Keats Wilkie, principal investigator for the mission at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “The booms on this sail are tube-shaped and can be flattened and rolled like a tape measure into a small package, while offering all the benefits of composite materials, such as less bending and flexing during temperature changes.”

After reaching its Sun-synchronous orbit, about 1,000 kilometers above Earth, the spacecraft will begin to deploy its composite arms, which span the diagonals of the polymer sail. After about 25 minutes, the solar sail will fully unfold and measure about 80 square meters, about the size of six parking spaces. Cameras mounted on the spacecraft will capture the sail’s big moment, monitoring its shape and symmetry during deployment.

With its large sail, the spacecraft can be visible from Earth if lighting conditions are right. Once fully expanded and properly oriented, the sail’s reflective material will be as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.