A solar sail is no longer just a graceful idea for propellant-free flight; it is becoming a materials and deployment problem that engineers are finally learning how to solve. That shift matters ...

NASA has launched the latest attempt to test solar sail propulsion technology. The ACS3’s solar sail is made of a reflective polymer and is held by a boom made of carbon fiber composite material.

Yesterday, Rocket Lab successfully deployed two satellites on the same launch while they were more than 500km apart in the context of a mission called the “Beginning Of The Swarm” (B.T.S.). Among them ...

NASA’s experimental solar sail is ready to take flight in Earth orbit, using the pressure of sunlight to test a new way of propulsion through the cosmos. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System(ACS3) ...