3 ms·

Why deorbit it though? Why not try for an EM-Lagrange point?

• cptaj 7y ago
  They are in a low earth orbit and there is still considerable atmospheric drag in the region. This causes the satellite to deorbit. This was a technology demonstrator and it has completed its mission successfully. It simply wasn't launched to an orbit where it can do more (Cubesats hitch rides on rockets launching larger, expensive payloads) NASA does have a mission intended to navigate quite a bit more using a solar sailing cubesat. https://www.nasa.gov/content/nea-scout https://www.nasa.gov/content/nea-scout I'm not sure to what extent the mission will rely on the solar sail though.
  • ben-schaaf 7y ago
    As long as the trust produced by the solar sail is more than atmospheric drag it technically has enough Δv to go anywhere.
    • mkl 7y ago
      Solar sail thrust isn't like rocket thrust; you can't just point it wherever you like, or turn it on and off as effectively, and there isn't nearly as much thrust available either. This craft can't leave low Earth orbit.