Japan To Launch Solar-Powered Spacecraft
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has announced plans to launch a solar-powered ‘space yacht’–the first of its kind–according to various media reports on Tuesday.
The Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun (IKAROS) satellite uses a special 66-foot (20m) sail made of thin-film solar technology that will allow the ship to use pressure, created by the reflection of sunlight off the sails, as propulsion. Furthermore, the satellite craft will also be equipped with solar cells to generate electricity, effectively making the IKAROS a hybrid spacecraft.
"Solar film has an enormous potential for use in our everyday lives if this technology becomes economically viable," Kyoto University assistant professor of polymer chemistry Hiroaki Benten told Bloomberg on Tuesday. "You’re going to be able to bring a solar-film battery with you as you walk about. It can be wrapped around anything."
IKAROS will launch from Tanegashima Space Center on May 18, according to JAXA.
"Ikaros’s mission will conclude within six months, and JAXA plans to launch a larger sail-powered satellite in the early part of the next decade to explore Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids," according to Bloomberg’s Shigeru Sato and Stuart Biggs.
"The Ikaros will use photon propulsion on this mission, and electricity from the sail will power equipment on the satellite. Both ion and photon propulsion will be used in the mission to Jupiter, according to JAXA," the reporters added in their April 27 report.
Russian and NASA scientists are always experimenting with the solar-sail technologies, and have successfully completed prototypes, according to what JAXA told Bloomberg. However, provided the scheduled launch in successful, IKAROS will mark the first time the technology has actually been used in outer space.
Furthermore, according to JAXA’s official website, "The second mission will take place in the late 2010s. It will involve a medium-sized solar power sail with a diameter of 50m, and will have integrated ion-propulsion engines. The destinations of the spacecraft will be Jupiter and the Trojan asteroids."
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