World’s largest solar sail headed to space next year by Cleantechnica

Solar sail technology is continuing to rapidly move towards its potentially game-changing role in the future of space flight. NASA will be launching in 2014 what is, as of now, the world’s largest solar sail ever constructed. This solar sail spacecraft, dubbed Sunjammer, will serve as a test and demonstration for the technology, and will then likely be used in the future in missions to near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), and possibly in missions to objects at the edge of and beyond the solar system.

The technology stands out for its relative affordability and complete lack of fuel use. It is accelerated entirely by photons from the Sun. The somewhat different electric solar sail also possesses many of the same advantages as the conventional solar sail, but is probably further off into the future.

“Dubbed Sunjammer, the giant solar sail measures about 124 feet on a side and boasts a total surface area of nearly 13,000 square feet,” Space.com writes. “The project is under the wing of NASA’s Space Technology Program, within the agency’s Office of the Chief Technologist.”

The Sunjammer was built by L’Garde Inc. of Tustin, California, after being contracted by NASA to build the spacecraft. They have worked previously with NASA on several projects. The name ‘Sunjammer’ apparently comes from a fictional story about a ‘yacht race’ in space done using solar sails, written by the author Arthur C. Clarke.

Interestingly, the Sunjammer will be launched by SpaceX (the rocket and spacecraft company started by Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and Paypal), on top of one of its Falcon 9 rockets. The solar sail technology itself seems as though it will be very attractive to many private space companies, potentially allowing for the cheap harvesting of resources from asteroids.

“NASA is keen to infuse solar sail technology into other potential game-changing mission capabilities. Possibilities (that) include the collection and removal of orbital debris, deorbiting spent satellites, providing a direct communications link to Earth’s south pole, as well as for deep space propulsion.”