A NASA mission testing a new way to navigate our solar system is ready to raise its sail into space to capture the driving force of sunlight, not wind. The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, April 23 (Wednesday, April 24 in New Zealand) aboard a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the company’s Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula.

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will deploy the CubeSat mission approximately 600 miles above Earth (more than twice the altitude of the International Space Station). To test the effectiveness of NASA’s advanced composite solar sail system, the spacecraft must be in an orbit high enough that the small force of sunlight on the sail (roughly equivalent to the weight of a paper clip resting in your hand) overcomes atmospheric drag. and strengthens it. height.

After an intensive first flight phase that will last approximately two months and include testing of subsystems, the microwave-sized CubeSat will deploy its reflective solar sail. The week-long test consists of a series of homing maneuvers to demonstrate orbital ascent and descent using only the pressure of sunlight acting on the sail.

Stay tuned as NASA’s advanced composite solar sail system sets out to prove its ability to fly in space, expand access and enable low-cost missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond.