LightSail 2 set to demonstrate solar sailing in Earth orbit

Purdue University professor David Spencer is the lead for LightSail 2, part of a payload that is scheduled to launch on June 22. Once deployed, LightSail 2 will use reflective sails to harness the momentum of sunlight for propulsion.

“While there have been several previous solar sail deployment demonstration missions, if all goes as planned LightSail 2 will become the first spacecraft to increase its orbital energy through controlling the sail orientation relative to the sun,” said Spencer, an associate professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and project manager for LightSail 2.

LightSail 2 arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 21. It was integrated on May 7 with Prox-1, a satellite that includes a spring-loaded deployer, at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to Purdue, the Falcon Heavy will place the combined Prox-1/LightSail 2 spacecraft into orbit at an altitude of about 450 miles. One week after launch, Prox-1 will deploy LightSail 2. Following a spacecraft checkout period, LightSail 2 will deploy its solar panels and then unfurl its four solar sail segments, providing a total sail area about the size of a boxing ring.