• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • NEWS:
  • SatNews
  • SatMagazine
  • MilSatMagazine
  • SmallSat News
  • |     EVENTS:
  • SmallSat Symposium
  • Satellite Innovation
  • MilSat Symposium

SatNews

  • HOME
  • Magazines
  • Events
  • Perspectives
  • Industry Calendar
    • IN PERSON
    • VIRTUAL
  • Subscribe

Ball Aerospace Sails into Space With Test “Sailcraft” for NASA’s Solar Propulsion Technology Demonstration

February 11, 2021

Artist’s rendering of solar sail that will propel NASA Solar Cruiser mission.
Credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

Ball Aerospace has been selected by NASA to provide a solar sail for the Solar Cruiser mission. The spacecraft will deploy an 18,000-square-foot sail — roughly the size of four regulation basketball courts stitched together. This is a NASA small satellite technology demonstration on the use of solar photons for propulsion in space. Ball will perform several mission-critical functions, including the integration and test of the satellite bus with the solar sail system that will form the completed “Sailcraft.”

“Solar Cruiser will be an important step in the advancement of solar propulsion technology that could enable future missions studying the Sun, space weather and deep space,” said Dr. Makenzie Lystrup, vice president and general manager, Civil Space, Ball Aerospace. “It builds on our legacy as a long-time mission partner to NASA and the scientific community, at large, in the development of leading-edge science and technology to achieve science at any scale.”     

The Solar Cruiser will be one of four missions launching with the NASA Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), currently scheduled in 2025. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will deploy an 18,000-square-foot sail – roughly the size of four regulation basketball courts stitched together – to catch solar radiation to propel the vehicle. Les Johnson, from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is the mission’s principal investigator. 

Ball Aerospace will be responsible for procuring a Venus-class microsat commercial bus, defining all necessary mission-specific modifications, and performing the integration and test of the completed Sailcraft.  

In addition to Solar Cruiser, Ball Aerospace will play roles on two of the other three missions launching on NASA’s IMAP, including the Global Lyman-alpha Imagers of the Dynamic Exosphere (GLIDE) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On (SWFO).  

Filed Under: Agencies, Analysis / Reports, Propulsion

Primary Sidebar

Most Read Stories

  • Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Enlists NanoAvionics For Three Surveillance Satellites
  • First Structural Metal Cutting In Space Demo By Nanoracks + Maxar Will Be Aboard The SpaceX Transporter 5 Rideshare Mission
  • Boeing Starliner And Rosie The Rocketeer En Route To ISS After Reaching Planned Orbit
  • Savilis Reveals SpaceTech's Rapid Growth Likely Will Create New Global Real Estate Requirements
  • Airbus' Final Two Dispenser-Free Pléiades Neo Constellation Satellites Ready For Launch

About Satnews

  • Contacts
  • History

Archives

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020

Secondary Sidebar

x
Sign up Now (For Free)
Access daily or weekly satellite news updates covering all aspects of the commercial and military satellite industry.
Invalid email address
Notify Me Regarding ( At least one ):
We value your privacy and will not sell or share your email or other information with any other company. You may also unsubscribe at anytime.

Click Here to see our full privacy policy.
Thanks for subscribing!