Light-induced Propulsion of Graphene-on-grid Sails in Microgravity | NextBigFuture.com

ESA-backed researchers demonstrate the laser-propulsion of graphene sails in microgravity. In an article recently published in Acta Astronautica, they report a scalable design that minimizes the overall sail mass and hence increases their thrust upon light irradiation. In addition, they prove the new sail concept by accelerating prototypes in a free-fall facility with 1W-lasers, reaching up to 1 m/s2. This milestone paves the way for lightweight ultralarge sails and eventually may help us to reach other star systems in a human lifespan. Above – Graphene light sail of 3mm in diameter with a mass of 0.25 mg ‘sets sail’ when