OrbitalHub

Credits: JAXA

While solar sail projects around the world are starving for funding, in Japan things are different. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is developing a small solar power sail demonstrator, IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun). IKAROS is equipped with a square sail made of polyimide resin and 0.0075 mm thick. Long-term plans of the agency include a medium-sized solar power sail with a diameter of 50 m and ion-propulsion engines that will explore the Trojan asteroids and Jupiter.

The solar power sail is a slightly different concept than the traditional solar sail. In addition to the solar sail, the solar power sail has a thin film of solar cells deployed on the membrane. The solar cells generate electricity that can be used to power ion-propulsion engines onboard the spacecraft. Fuel-effective mission profiles are made possible by such hybrids.

IKAROS will be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on top of a H-II launch vehicle. It will share the ride with the Venus Climate Orbiter “AKATSUKI”.

JAXA is committed to leading the research and the development of solar sails:
“JAXA will lead future solar system exploration using solar power sails. Our missions will lead to lower cost in the solar cells market, whose growth is a key factor for global warming prevention. Those low-cost solar cells are also the foundation of future solar power satellite systems.”

Centauri Dreams presents the comments of Osamu Mori, the project leader for the sail mission, on the solar-powered attitude control system of the spacecraft and the deployment method of the sail. You can find more information about IKAROS on JAXA’s web site.