NASA plans to send a satellite weighing less than 10 pounds into space, with an ultra-thin, 100 square foot solar sail as its primary means of altitude control or orbital manoeuvring.

NanoSail-D is the result of a partnership between Marshall Space Flight Center, and Ames Research Center. NASA will send the satellite into space on-board a SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket, scheduled for launch from Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean between July 29th and August 6th.

Talking about the NanoSail-D, Edward Montgomery, payload manager, said: “The structure is made of aluminium and space-age plastic. The whole spacecraft weighs less than 10 pounds. We carry it around in a special suitcase – airplane carry-on luggage size.”

Once in space, a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer, developed at the University of California, will be used to deploy the sail. Fully opened, the kite-shaped sail spreads out about 100-square feet of light-catching surface.

Montgomery continued: “NanoSail-D will be the first fully deployed solar sail in space, and the first spacecraft to use solar pressure as a primary means of altitude control or orbital manoeuvring.

Solar sails in space bring benefits. Because there is no friction in space, once a solar sail starts moving, it can go on forever. Indeed, long after a rocket would run out of fuel and begin to coast, a solar sailship could still be accelerating, achieving speed much faster, and covering distances far greater than any rocket.

Speed in an important benefit, Montgomery continued: “The Voyagers have escaped the solar system, and they were sent by rockets, but its taken more than three decades to do it. A sail launched today would probably catch up with them in a single decade. Sails are slower to get started though. So, for example, between the Earth and the moon, rockets might be preferred for missions with a short timeline. It’s a trip of days for rockets, but months for a solar sail. The rule of thumb, therefore, would be to use rockets for short hops and solar sails for the long hauls.”

This technology also presents an added bonus says Montgomery. “Currently, micro-satellites in orbit above a few hundred kilometres can stay in orbit for decades after completing their mission. This creates an orbital debris collision risk for other spacecraft. NanoSail-D will demonstrate the feasibility of using a drag sail to decrease the time satellites clutter up Earth’s orbit. Although our sail looks like a kite, it will act like a parachute (or like a drag sail) in the very thin upper atmosphere around Earth. It will slow the spacecraft and make it lose altitude, re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn off in a relatively short period of time. A drag sail is a lighter alternative to carrying a propulsion system to de-orbit a satellite.”