Cosmos Solar Sail Getting Close To Launch

digitalcaffeine writes "The Guardian is reporting that US and Russian scientists are planning to launch a spacecraft that will use solar sails to move about in space. This venture, called Cosmos 1, is backed by the Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios. The spacecraft, finally due for launch in late 2004 or early 2005, will use a converted SS-N-18 submarine launched ballistic missile fired from beneath the Barents Sea to get it into a 800 x 1000 km elliptical orbit. It will then unfurl its 15m sails and start moving about. So, for all the governments that have been working on a similar project, the first solar-sailed spacecraft is going to be from a private venture." An update on the official site notes that "The world's first solar sail craft is nearing completion. All electronic systems are now flight qualified and were delivered to the spacecraft for final assembly and testing" - we previously reported on the Cosmos Project and the efficacy of solar sails.

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Interesting Uses for Solar Sails

[Zentakz]

Posted before under the Japanese Solar Sail Deployment:
Though Solar Sails are often associated with interstellar travel they have many extremely useful applications in Earth orbit and local solar system exploration. Most potential applications take advantage of the continuous thrust and zero fuel payload of a solar sail.

Near Earth, Solar Sails are particularly suited for high orbital inclination satellite missions. Weather forecasting and global positioning systems would directly benefit from satellites orbiting the poles. Most satellites take advantage of the natural speed of Earth's rotation to boost them into an orbit relatively close to the equatorial plane. Changing the plane requires a large fuel burn for a conventional rocket and greatly increases launch costs. With its small but continuous thrust, a solar sail can reach polar orbits without a massive fuel payload, making them more accessible to scientific research.

Away from Earth, Solar Sails offer a number of other interesting options. Missions have been proposed for asteroid rendezvous, travel to the inner planets (yes, solar sails can travel toward the sun), and an interesting idea using Lagrange points. More advanced solar sails could use their continuous thrust to enlarge the regions where they are able to "hover" well away from Earth. This allows much better observation of solar activity. Solar sails not only have an appealing sci-fi flair, but appear to be quite practical as well. I hope to see the technology develop rapidly.