The idea of a lightsail comes from the fact that radiation pressure represents a mechanical pressure acting on a surface due ...

“A solar sail technology…can substitute rockets in propelling payloads to desired destinations in space,” says Loeb. “Reflection of sunlight pushes a thin membrane, just as the sail on a ...

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a major step toward developing lightsails that could one day ...

The results of these tests could pave the way for the integration of solar sail technology into a wide range of future space ...

Powered by laser light, this tiny sail lays the groundwork for future advances in lightsail technology and the potential for ...

The Electric Solar Wind Sail (E-sail) is an innovative propulsion technology designed for space exploration that utilizes the solar wind to generate thrust without the need for traditional ...

And we believe it will fundamentally advance the technology of spaceflight. Solar sailing is elegant not only in concept but also in its efficiency. Once in orbit, there’s no fuel needed.

Additionally, the solar panels will contribute another ... To that point, it is not simply a case of creating the technology and setting sail. The port infrastructure needs to also support the ...

Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have taken a major step ... Lightsails are a more generic form of solar sail, in that they use radiation pressure from a light source to ...

The idea of traveling through interstellar space using spacecraft propelled by ultrathin sails may sound like the stuff of sci-fi novels. But in fact, a program started in 2016 by Stephen Hawking and ...