Lightsailing Ahoy!

It actually works!

After successful deployment, Lightsail2 is raising its orbit with its sail [1]!

“Years of computer simulations. Countless ground tests. They’ve all led up to now. The Planetary Society’s crowdfunded LightSail 2 spacecraft is successfully raising its orbit solely on the power of sunlight.”

This tiny satellite is the first demonstration of solar sailing in Earth orbit, and only the second ever successful solar sailcraft.

In the coming weeks, the team is studying and optimizing the sailing.

The mechanics of orbiting means that pushing the apogee up (by 2 km so far) tips the perigee lower by a corresponding amount.  In a few weeks, the perigee will be low enough to encounter strong atmospheric resistance which soon will be far more than the sail can counter.  This will lead the orbit to decay and the craft will reenter and burn up later this year.

LightSail 2 Orbit Apogee and Perigee Since Launch This chart shows LightSail 2’s orbit apogee and perigee since launch. From 26 July to 30 July, the spacecraft raised its orbital high point, or apogee, by about 2 kilometers. A PDF version of this chart is available. (From [1]) Image credit: The Planetary Society / Data provided by NXTRAC

Well done all!

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1. Jason Davis, LightSail 2 Spacecraft Successfully Demonstrates Flight by Light, in Planetary Society Blogs – Jason DAvis. 2019. http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-successful-flight-by-light.html