This presentation gives a brief concept (engineering related) about solar space propulsion. It is all about the travelling technology of satellite in the space world. Hope it helps !

1. PRESENTED BY: -
AYUSH KOUL- (19103083)

2. CONTENT
S
 Introduction
 History
 Sails Using – Sunlight
 Types
 Core Of The Solar Sail
 Pre Launch Tests On Solar Sail
 Design Challenges
 Applications
 Advantages/Disadvantages
 Reference

3. Introduction
 Solar sails are a method of spacecraft
propulsion using radiation pressure exerted by
sunlight on large mirrors.
 A useful analogy may be a sailing boat ; the
light exerting a force on the mirrors is akin to a
sail being blown by the wind.
 They are also called light sails or photon
sails.
 The most common material in current designs
is aluminized 2 µm Kapton film as it resists
the heat of a pass close to the Sun and still
remains reasonably strong.
 The Aluminium reflecting film is on the Sun
side which uses the sun's energy as a method
of propulsion—flight by light.
 As light reflects off a sail, most of its
momentum is transferred, pushing on the sail.

4. History
• Johannes Kepler observed that comet tails
point away from the Sun and suggested that
the Sun caused the moving effect.
• In 1873, James Clerk Maxwell first
demonstrated that sunlight exerts a small
amount of pressure as photons bounce off a
reflective surface.
• In 1993, the Russian Space Agency
conducted a successful solar sail
experiment, called Znamya but in 1999
collided with a deployed spacecraft antenna
and was destroyed.
• Cosmos-1 is the World's First Solar Sail
Launch planned in 21st June, 2005.
• In may 2010, Japanese successfully launched
IKAROS in rocket which was used by NASA.

5. Sail Using Sunlight
• Sail pointed at Sun, experiences force i.e.
Sun pushes the sail directly away.
• Reflected light generates reaction force
(much like reaction force of rocket)

6. Types
• Square Sail
• Heliogyro Solar Sail
• Spinning Disc Sail
Square Sail
Spinning Disc Sail
Heliogyro Solar Sail

7. Core Of The Solar Sail
• The core of solar sail involves a CUBESAT.
• A CubeSat is a type of miniaturized satellite
for space research that is made up of
multiples of 10×10×10 cm cubic units.
CubeSat's have a mass of no more than 1.33
kilograms per unit, and often use
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
components for their electronics and
structure.
• The structure is an enclosed aluminum box
with solar cells clamped on the outside
walls. Antennas are deployed perpendicular
to the faces at the corners. Internals include
sensors, a camera and printed circuit boards.

8. Major Components
Of CubeSat
• Payload
• C&DH (Command and Data Handling)
• COMM (Communications)
• EPS (Electrical Power System)
• ADC (Attitude Determination and Control)
• Structures and Mechanisms
• Batteries
• Solar Panels & Arrays
• GSE(ground support equipment)
• Software

9. Tests Before Launching
• Ground deployment tests
• Suborbital tests
• Attitude orientation control

10. Tests Before Launching
Ground Deployment Test
• In order to verify the deployment
effect of L-shape folding solar sail a
ground deployment test was
designed.
• By this means, we can save our
time to fold four sail segments and
also note all the readings.
Suborbital Tests
• This 30-minute test is supposed to
try out a key technology for
unfurling the panels in the solar sail.
Attitude Orientation Control
• Determines trajectory optimization
to generate the nominal flight path,
trajectory control to coned the
actual flight path, attitude dynamics
and control, solar radiation
pressure (SRP) modeling, and orbit
determination.
• This test also helps analyzing
conversion of thrust commands
from the Trajectory Control (TCN)
module into vehicle attitude
commands and then executes an
attitude feedback control loop.

11. Design Challenges
• The single most important characteristic of
solar sails is their large size which is often
measured in kilometers and also is
necessary to achieve acceptable
accelerations and transfer times.
• So, the challenges they undergo are: -
1) Packaging
2) Deployment
3) Stiffening

12. Design Challenges
Packing
• One method for packaging
membranes is by wrapping the
membrane around a central hub,
by folding along spiraling crease
lines.
• An important benefit is the
deployment from the center
outwards.
• Optimizes the packaging
efficiency.
Deployment
• This can either be sequential or
simultaneous.
• The former requires a more
complex control procedure, but
ensures sufficient stiffness during
compressive and bending loads
during unfurling sails.
Stiffening
• After deployment the film must
remain relatively flat in order to
maximize its propulsive capability
and thus requires a stiffening
method that is scalable with the
sail size.

13. Applications
• Exploration of the solar system and beyond.
• Delivery of science
instruments/observatories.
• Maintenance of special 'artificial' orbits.
• Delivery of large cargos and people.
• Store solar energy/reflectors for
commercials.
• Planetary Protection.
ETC …

14. Advantages And Disadvantages
Advantages
 It requires no fuel.
 Use of low resource spacecraft.
 Longer life in space.
 Less in mass.
 Sail acting as a solar cell, which creates an
electrical current (just the way normal solar
panels work). This electricity can be used for
many purposes like IKAROS uses it simply to
power it’s sensors and motors.
Disadvantages
 Sail craft must operate in orbits where their
turn rates are compatible with the orbits,
which is generally a concern only for spinning
disk configurations.
 A sail can be used only where its temperature
is kept within its material limits.
 They lose thrust when they are further from
the Sun.
 They are large, delicate, and cannot be used
on any craft intended to land on another body
unless jettisoned or retracted.

15. References : -
 HTTPS://WWW.PLANETARY.ORG/ARTICLES/WHAT-IS-SOLAR-SAILING
 HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/SOLAR_SAIL
 HTTPS://WWW.PLANETARY.ORG/SCI-TECH/LIGHTSAIL
 HTTPS://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/CUBESAT

16. Thank You