NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System has now connected with ground operators following its April 23 launch aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The satellite is on its way to testing next-generation solar sail technology, which uses the power of sunlight to propel a spacecraft. The results from this mission will advance future space travel to …
NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, May 22, 2024, for the first of two launches of the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission to study heat loss to space in Earth’s polar regions. For the PREFIRE mission, two CubeSats will launch on two different flights aboard the company’s …
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is confirmed to have deployed from Rocket Lab’s Electron kick stage. The satellite has reached low Earth orbit to begin its mission to test next-generation technology that uses the power of sunlight as propulsion. Next, the solar sail satellite will power up and attempt initial contact with the ground; …
NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Mission is on its way! The spacecraft has lifted off from the launch pad aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket. The microwave oven-sized satellite is on its way to low Earth orbit to test its next-generation solar sail technology, using the power of sunlight as propulsion. Rocket Lab is providing …
Welcome to launch day for NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail Mission! This next-generation solar sail technology, which uses the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, waits for liftoff atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket at the company’s Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. This launch will send the solar sail satellite to low Earth orbit, where …
