LightSail 2 – Spaceflight Now

December 5, 2021

Breaking News

[ December 5, 2021 ] Arianespace launches Galileo navigation satellites in final mission before Webb Mission Reports
[ December 4, 2021 ] SpaceX test-fires Falcon 9 rocket ahead of NASA science probe launch Falcon 9
[ December 4, 2021 ] Photos: Atlas 5 rolls out to launch pad for Space Force mission Atlas 5
[ December 3, 2021 ] Live coverage: Soyuz rocket lifts off from jungle launch pad with Galileo satellites Mission Reports
[ December 3, 2021 ] Live coverage: ULA delays Atlas 5 launch to Monday Atlas 5

LightSail team declares success in solar sail experiment

August 1, 2019

The gentle push of sunlight is slowly changing the orbit of the Planetary Society’s crowd-funded LightSail 2 satellite after it unfurled a thin solar sail the size of a boxing ring last week, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Privately-funded spacecraft now solar sailing in Earth orbit

July 26, 2019

A nanosatellite launched aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month has unfurled a solar sail membrane and is using light pressure from the sun to change its orbit around Earth, pioneering techniques that could be used by future missions traveling to the sun’s stellar neighbors.