Rocket Lab Announces NASA Solar Sail Contract

In a 6 October 2021 press release,Rocket Lab USA of Long Beach,California announced it has been chosen to launch NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (AC3S) on the Electron launch vehicle.The NASA technology employs composite materials in the lightweight booms that will deploy from a CubeSat to support the solar sail.Solar sails use the pressure of photons,particles of light which lack mass and were first posited by Albert Einstein,for propulsion of deep space missions without the need for conventional rocket fuel.The AC3S demo will facilitate the design of future large-scale composite solar systems for such purposes as space weather early warning satellites;near-Earth asteroid reconnaissance missions;and communications relays for crewed exploration missions,such as to Mars.* The launch is slated for mid-2022 at Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.The launch will feature the Electron rocket's Kick Stage capability for deploying rockets to unique orbits-in this case,to the higher orbit required by AC3S than the other CubeSats that will ride along on the launch.The Kick Stage will perform a special burn for AC3S with its 3D printed Curie engine,raising the AC3S for its deployment.Said Rocket Lab's founder and CEO Peter Beck: We are thrilled to be NASA's lauch partner for this innovative mission...We're excited to see composites used yet again to unlock new capabilities in space.* Indeed,Mr.Beck pointed out that the Electron rocket itself is the world's first full carbon composite orbital launch vehicle.* Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB)