A French company wants to go to space with a solar sail

The French space company Gamma has raised €2 million through a capital operation to fund a project to put a solar sail into orbit around the Earth. The French company is convinced that solar sails can provide significant benefits in space travel.

Spokesperson for “Solar Sails Don’t Need Engines to Move” gamma† Instead, these spacecraft are propelled by sunlight pressure. The angle of the sail determines the direction the spaceship will follow.

Venus

Gamma announced that it plans to launch a 73.3 square meter solar sail in October. In addition, the solar sail will be propelled into space as an additional payload by a SpaceX rocket and placed in Earth orbit at an altitude of 550 kilometers.”

The French company is not the first party to work with solar sails. Earlier, the US Space Agency, in cooperation with the Planetary Society, also conducted tests on the use of solar sails.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa) is the only organization to date that has succeeded in putting the technology into practice. Twelve years ago, JAXA summoned a solar sail to send the experimental interplanetary spacecraft a kite accelerated by the sun’s radiation (Icarus) to Venus.

Cost-effective

Gama hopes to prove that solar sails can revolutionize deep space travel. After all, the technology is cost-effective and can be adapted to the specific scale of the individual task.

After the first test this year, the French company plans to launch a second project in two years. This would bring a spacecraft into a higher orbit around Earth. This task should provide more information about the controls and navigation on board the aircraft.

A year later, following JAXA’s example, Gama, in turn, plans a mission to Venus.

(Morning)