The French aerospace company Gama has raised €2m to deploy a solar sail in space.
Solar sails require no engines to move. Instead, they are pushed around by the pressure of sunlight. The angle of the sail determines the direction of motion.
Gama plans to deploy a 73.3-sq-metre solar sail in a 550km-altitude orbit in October. It will be launched as an additional payload on a SpaceX rocket.
There have been a number of previous solar sail deployment tests by Nasa and the American space advocacy group the Planetary Society.
However, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency had been the only organisation to successfully sail on sunlight. In 2010 it used a solar sail to power the experimental Ikaros (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun) spacecraft to Venus.
Gama hopes to demonstrate that solar sails can revolutionise access to deep space because they are cost-effective and scalable in size.
After this year’s deployment test, the company plans to launch a follow-up mission in 2024 to a higher orbit to demonstrate control and onboard navigation. In 2025, it hopes to emulate the Japanese and fly to Venus.
Since solar sails are incapable of running out of fuel, they can help reduce the risk of space debris.
