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What about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS? The only new part, is that Lightsail is a cubesat, right? (IKAROUS was 315
by zeroping 7y ago
What about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKAROS? The only new part, is that Lightsail is a cubesat, right? (IKAROUS was 315 kg.)
From article: "Our criteria was to demonstrate controlled solar sailing in a CubeSat by changing the spacecraft’s orbit using only the light pressure of the Sun, something that’s never been done before. I'm enormously proud of this team. It's been a long road and we did it."
- Tepix 7y agoYes, they demonstrated putting a light sail in a tiny cheap satellite and controlling it
- andygates 7y agoOne of the limits of cubesats is that they're so small they have very limited propulsion, if any. Prop levels are correlated to mission lifetime; this presents a nice way to extend missions.