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Planetary Society

  • The final image sent back by LightSail 2, before the mission came to an end as the spacecraft burned up on reentry into Earth's atmosphere
    Space
    LightSail 2 mission reaches fiery end after 3-year solar sailing demo
    After three years circling the Earth, the Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 mission has come to an end following a fiery reentry. The satellite was an important tech demo for solar sailing, which could eventually propel spacecraft to other stars.
  • The LightSail 2 solar sail
    Space
    Lightsail 2 makes history by using sunlight to propel itself onto a new orbital path
    The Planetary Society announced today that after unfurling its solar sail last week, the tiny spacecraft has successfully leveraged photons from the Sun to shift its trajectory in Earth orbit, a landmark moment in the history of space exploration. ​​
  • LightSail 2 has successfully deployed its solar sail
    Space
    LightSail 2 deploys its sail and enters solar surfing mode
    ​​After launching into orbit aboard SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket last month, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 satellite has now entered the most critical phase of its mission, successfully unfurling its solar sail and starting to surf through space on the power of the Sun.
  • The Lightsail 2 is due to launch on June 24, as a proof of concept for a photon propulsion system for spacecraft
    Space
    LightSail 2 CubeSat launches next week to test photon propulsion system that could take us interstellar
    Future spacecraft could be getting around under the power of sails. But of course, with no wind in space, these sails are catching another method of propulsion – photons from starlight. The tech is soon due to be demonstrated in action onboard LightSail 2, a small satellite due to launch next week.
  • LightSail fulfilled the main mission objective by successfully deploying its sail
    Space
    LightSail mission reaches fiery end
    The Planetary Society's brief, yet successful LightSail mission came to a fiery end on Sunday. After 25 days in orbit, the CubeSat designed to test a solar sail propulsion system burned up after reentering the Earth’s atmosphere somewhere over the South Atlantic.
  • LightSail with its Mylar sail partially deployed
    Space
    LightSail successfully deploys solar sail
    The Planetary Society today confirmed that its LightSail satellite has successfully deployed its Mylar solar sail, achieving the main objective of the mission after 19 days in low-Earth orbit. The CubeSat completed transmission of its first image showing the sail open and partly spread out.
  • After an early hiccup in its mission, the Lightsail technology demonstrator is back in business (Credit: The Planetary Society)
    Space
    LightSail probe back on line
    The Planetary Society's LightSail CubeSat has phoned home. After being "paused" a over a week ago due to a software error, the Society reports that the solar sail technology demonstrator has now rebooted itself.
  • The LightSail satellite is locked up due to a software glitch
    Space
    Software problem "pauses" LightSail mission
    The LightSail solar sail mission has been "paused" due to a software glitch related to a design flaw in the avionics software, which has frozen the onboard computer in a fashion all too familiar to terrestrial technology users.
  • Artist's concept of LightSail fully deplyed
    Space
    Planetary Society's LightSail to make first test flight in May
    The non-profit Planetary Society has announced that its LightSail spacecraft will make its first flight in May. The solar-propelled CubeSat will lift off as a piggyback cargo atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.