An effective sail area that is as much as a million times bigger A sail formed not of material, but by electric fields reaching a diameter of 40 kilometers could tap the solar wind and prope... Read more
Free-flying satellites powered by the Sun soar through space. Two trials of spacecraft have successfully unfurled their solar sails, and demonstrated that radiation from sunlight can power t... Read more
There’s a new kind of spaceship on the horizon. No, it’s not a cruise ship (we wish!) – it’s a clipper, and if Joel Poncy and his team at Thales Alenia Space have their way... Read more
Japanese scientists are celebrating the successful deployment of their solar sail, Ikaros. The 200-sq-m (2,100-sq-ft) membrane is attached to a small disc-shaped spacecraft that was put in o... Read more
After lots of talk and testing, Japanese researchers are ready to go space sailing. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced its intention to launch its first “space yacht... Read more