Distributed Reflectivity Solar Sails for Extended Mission Applications

Optical Control of Solar Sails using Distributed Reflectivity

Shape-changing Solar Sails for Novel Mission Applications

A Solar Kite Mission to Study the Earth's Magneto-tail

Solar sails have been studied in the past as an alternative means of propulsion for spacecraft. Recent advances in solar sail technology and the miniaturisation of technology can drive these systems much smaller (< 5 kg mass, < 10 m sail diameter) than existing sails, while still having a high delta-V and acceleration capability. With these unique capabilities of miniature solar sails, called s...

Solar sailing: mission applications and engineering challenges.

Solar sailing is emerging as a promising form of advanced spacecraft propulsion, which can enable exciting new space-science mission concepts. By exploiting the momentum transported by solar photons, solar sails can perform high-energy orbit-transfer manoeuvres without the need for reaction mass. Missions such as planetary-sample return, multiple small-body rendezvous and fast missions to the o...

Investigating the Design Space for Solar Sail Trajectories in the Earth- Moon System

Solar sailing is an enabling technology for many mission applications. One potential application is the use of a sail as a communications relay for a base at the lunar south pole. A survey of the design space for a solar sail spacecraft that orbits in view of the lunar south pole at all times demonstrates that trajectory options are available for sails with characteristic acceleration values of...