ESA demonstrates viability of graphene solar sails

According to the European Space Agency (ESA) light sails are one of the most promising existing space propulsion technologies that could enable humans to explore other star systems within many decades.

Traditional spacecraft carry fuel to power their journeys and use complex orbital manoeuvres around other planets. The weight of the fuel makes them difficult to launch and intricate flyby manoeuvres considerably lengthen the journey.

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Solar sails do not require an onboard source of fuel, making future spacecraft lighter and easier to launch.

So far, two spacecraft flown over the past decade have demonstrated the technology, but they used sails made of polyimide and mylar, a polyester film.

To test whether graphene could be used as a sail, researchers used a scrap just 3mm across. They dropped it from a 100m tall tower in Bremen, Germany, to test whether it worked under vacuum and in microgravity.