LightSail-1
| Names | LightSail-1 |
|---|---|
| Mission type | Technology Demonstration |
| Operator | The Planetary Society |
| Website | sail |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | March 2017 |
| Rocket | Falcon Heavy |
| Launch site | LC-39A, Kennedy Space Center |
| Contractor | SpaceX |
LightSail 2 is a project to build a solar sail spacecraft, scheduled for launch in March 2017 and developed by The Planetary Society, a global non-profit organization devoted to space exploration. The kite-shaped spacecraft, which was announced in 2009, will have a total sail area of 32 square meters (340 sq ft), and will be fitted with guidance and diagnostic electronics.
On 20 May 2015 a smaller technology demonstrator, LightSail 1 (formerly called LightSail-A), was launched and deployed its solar sail on 7 June 2015. If the 2017 mission is successful, two more solar sails, LightSail 3 and LightSail 4, will be built.
In 2005, The Planetary Society attempted to send its first solar sail, Cosmos 1, into orbit, but the Russian Volna launch vehicle failed to reach orbit. In 2009, the Society took over NASA's NanoSail-D project, which they later renamed LightSail. Nanosail-D had failed to attain orbit in August 2008 due to the failure of its Falcon 1 launch vehicle. (A backup, NanoSail-D2, was successfully deployed in early 2011.)
In November 2009, the Society announced in Washington D.C. that it would build and launch LightSail 2, a larger version to be placed at a higher orbit. By 2011, the project had passed its critical design review, which was conducted by a team including JPL project veterans Bud Schurmeier, Glenn Cunningham, and Viktor Kerzhanovich, as well as Dave Bearden of Aerospace Corporation. The estimated cost of LightSail 2 was US$1.8 million, which was raised from membership dues and private sources. The prototype spacecraft LightSail 1 (or LightSail-A) was built in San Luis Obispo by Stellar Exploration Inc.
In March 2016, The Planetary Society announced they decided to use the convention on naming the spacecraft with the program name followed by a sequential number; the test flight or LightSail-A, became LightSail 1, and the upcoming larger spacecraft is now called LightSail 2.
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