SOLAR SAIL HARDWARE DEVELOPMENTS

Solar sails have been studied in the literature for decades as a novel propulsion system for planetary and interstellar missions. Solar sail propulsion could enable missions that were never considered possible. This Technology is now included in development programs and technology roadmaps of different Space Agencies like ESA, DLR and NASA. This paper will focus on a comparison of the technology development of five projects: ESA / DLR, COSMOS 1, ENCOUNTER, NASA JPL and Solar Blade. It will give an overview on the hardware developments for these Gossamer-like structures.