When
3:45 p.m., Nov. 3, 2015
Where
Kuiper Space Sciences 312
Jason Davis
Digital Editor
The Planetary Society
LightSail: Flight by Light for CubeSats
CubeSats are small, standardized spacecraft that typically use off-the-shelf hardware. They have drastically lowered the price of space missions for universities, research groups and the commercial sector, and can be used for a variety of scientific applications. But these tiny spacecraft typically lack propulsion, which has limited their usefulness so far. LightSail is a technology demonstration to show how solar sailing propulsion can increase the usefulness of CubeSats.
The Planetary Society (TPS) is a non-profit space advocacy group with a stated mission to "empower the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration." In 2009, TPS began work on LightSail, a small, citizen-funded CubeSat to demonstrate solar sailing propulsion technology. The program completed a test flight in June 2015.
For the primary mission, scheduled to launch in September 2016, LightSail will be enclosed within Prox-1, a small satellite developed by Georgia Tech to autonomously inspect other spacecraft. Both satellites will be lifted into a 720-kilometer circular orbit by the Falcon Heavy, a new heavy-lift rocket built by private spaceflight company SpaceX.
Digital Editor
The Planetary Society
LightSail: Flight by Light for CubeSats
CubeSats are small, standardized spacecraft that typically use off-the-shelf hardware. They have drastically lowered the price of space missions for universities, research groups and the commercial sector, and can be used for a variety of scientific applications. But these tiny spacecraft typically lack propulsion, which has limited their usefulness so far. LightSail is a technology demonstration to show how solar sailing propulsion can increase the usefulness of CubeSats.
The Planetary Society (TPS) is a non-profit space advocacy group with a stated mission to "empower the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration." In 2009, TPS began work on LightSail, a small, citizen-funded CubeSat to demonstrate solar sailing propulsion technology. The program completed a test flight in June 2015.
For the primary mission, scheduled to launch in September 2016, LightSail will be enclosed within Prox-1, a small satellite developed by Georgia Tech to autonomously inspect other spacecraft. Both satellites will be lifted into a 720-kilometer circular orbit by the Falcon Heavy, a new heavy-lift rocket built by private spaceflight company SpaceX.
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