NASA has launched the latest attempt to test solar sail propulsion technology. The ACS3’s solar sail is made of a reflective polymer and is held by a boom made of carbon fiber composite material.

On September 5, NASA shared the first image captured of its solar sail prototype spacecraft flying in space. While solar sail technology is still in the early stages of development, it could ...

Solar sailing has moved from science fiction concept to working hardware, and now a new generation of entrepreneurs wants to turn that gentle push of sunlight into a commercial engine. Instead of ...

Video shows NASA's futuristic solar sail technology prototype. Like a sail on the ocean propels a boat with the wind, this space sail is meant to propel payloads by harnessing the pressure of sunlight ...

To get somewhere in space, you'll need engines and fuel, but maybe that won't be the case for much longer. The Planetary Society has just reached a critical milestone in the development of its solar ...

The ribbon solar sail will be a solar sail design using a thin film strip embedded with diffractive gratings. It is a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) project. This configuration leverages ...

For most spacecraft, traveling through the vacuum of space requires fuel. NASA's experimental Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) is different, though. This vehicle could help NASA learn how ...

Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces from Imperial College London.View full profile Alfredo has a PhD in Astrophysics and a Master's in Quantum ...

On May 21, 2010, Japan launched the first solar sail into space. Solar sail technology uses light for spacecraft propulsion, but not in the same way that traditional solar panels do. While solar ...

Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti receives funding from NASA. He is the Principal Investigator of Space Weather Investigation Frontier (SWIFT). The burgeoning space industry and the technologies society ...