The NASA is preparing to launch next April its Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) aboard the Electron rocket from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. This innovative technology uses solar energy for propulsion, and promises to redefine space travel and expand our understanding of the solar system.
Solar sails utilize the pressure of sunlight, exerted by photons bouncing off a reflective sail, to propel a spacecraft. This method eliminates the need for heavy propulsion systems, enabling longer missions at lower costs.
However, the effectiveness of solar sails has historically been hindered by the limitations of the materials used for the booms, the structures that hold the sails in place, similar to the mast of a sailboat. NASA‘s latest initiative aims to overcome these challenges with cutting-edge design.
The ACS3 mission will deploy a twelve-unit (12U) CubeSat, built by NanoAvionics, to test an innovative composite material boom made from a blend of flexible polymer and carbon fiber. These materials are not only lighter but also stiffer than those used in previous designs, offering a promising solution to the challenges faced by earlier solar sail technologies.
The main objective of the mission is to demonstrate the success of deploying these new sails. Subsequently, the team intends to evaluate the performance of the sail through a series of orbital maneuvers, collecting valuable data for future missions that may employ even larger sails.
Keats Wilkie, principal investigator at NASA‘s Langley Research Center, highlighted the importance of the new design of the booms, noting their compactness and efficiency. “The booms of this sail are tube-shaped and can be flattened and rolled up like a measuring tape into a small package, while offering all the advantages of composite materials,” explained Wilkie.
