Developments and activities in solar sail propulsion

Solar Sailing: Applications and Technology Advancement

“…The use of solar sails for high-energy sample return missions to the inner planets has been discussed extensively within the literature (Garner et al, 2001;Leipold, 1999;McInnes et al, 2002;Sauer, Jr., 1976;Tsu, 1959;Vulpetti et al 2008;Wright, 1992;Wright & Warmke, 1976) often without presenting the trajectory as part of a larger system-level trade on the propulsion selection criteria. Solar sailing, like other forms of low-thrust propulsion, requires that if a bound orbit about the target body is desired then at arrival the spacecraft must have, in-effect, zero hyperbolic excess velocity.…”

“…The use of solar sails for outer solar system rendezvous missions has been long discussed within the literature (Garner et al, 2001;Leipold, 1999;Wright, 1992;Wright & Warmke, 1976). Furthermore, an assessment study was previously conducted by the Authors and Hughes looking at a range of solar sail Jupiter missions (M c Innes et al, 2003e, 2004a, including concepts for exploration of the Galilean moons.…”

“…A significant quantity of work in the past decade has been performed to assess the problem of trajectory and system design of a solar sail mission beyond Neptune (Colasurdo & Casalino, 2001;Dachwald, 2004aDachwald, , 2004bDachwald, , 2005Garner et al, 2000Garner et al, , 2001Leipold & Wagner, 1998;Leipold, 1999;Leipold et al, 2006Leipold et al, , 2010bLyngvi et al, 2003Lyngvi et al, , 2005aLyngvi et al, , 2005bMacdonald et al, 2007bM c Innes, 2004b;Sauer, Jr., 2000;Sharma & Scheeres, 2004;Sweetser & Sauer, Jr., 2001;Vulpetti, 1997Vulpetti, , 2002Wallace, 1999;Wallace et al, 2000;West, 1998;Yen, 2001). It has been shown that solar sail propulsion offers significant benefits to missions concepts which aim to deliver a spacecraft beyond Neptune, for either a Kuiper Belt or Interstellar Heliopause (at approximately 200 au) mission.…”

An interstellar probe mission to the boundaries of the heliosphere and nearby interstellar space

“…The fabrics, made of 10 micron carbon fibers, are stiff and easily handled for coating. Reflective coatings have been applied to carbon microtruss fabrics of less than 10 g/m 2 ; ELSI had made fabrics with areal densities down to 1 g/m 2 (Garner and Leipold, 2000). The developments in solar sail technology will have to be tested in one or more flight demonstrations before a 400-m sail with an areal density of ~1 g/m 2 will be ready for flight, requiring an aggressive solar-sail development program (see, e.g., Wallace, 1999).…”

“…In a 1995 study of a smaller interstellar probe (Mewaldt et al, 1995), a ~200 kg spacecraft was to reach exit velocities of ~6 to 14 AU/year, depending on launch vehicle and trajectory, using chemical propulsion with planetary gravity assists or impulsive maneuvers near the Sun. Recent technological advances, notably lighter reflective sail materials (Garner et al, 1999;Garner and Leipold, 2000) and lighter spacecraft designs, now make it feasible to accomplish essentially the same mission using a solar sail to accelerate a 150 kg spacecraft. Given the recognized scientific importance of a mission to the nearby interstellar medium, one can ask why none of these concepts has moved forward into development.…”