Satellite LightSail sent the first clear picture

Despite the communication problems that occurred earlier, the LightSail satellite is now working normally, and is sending the first data to Earth. Now LightSail has sent the first high-quality image , a test photo, which shows some details of the satellite. In particular, the photo shows the engine, which should deploy the solar sails of the device.

It is worth recalling that the satellite includes four triangular sails. The system itself consists of three CubeSat satellites at once - these are modular devices that have already become standard. The total area of ​​the sail is 32 m2.


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Note that immediately after launching the satellite was silent because of a software developer error. At the same time, a remote reboot failed. A few days later, the satellite system restarted on its own.

Now the satellite receives all signals from the Earth, and transmits its own data. The opening of the solar sail system should be completed tomorrow.


This is the first distorted image sent by the satellite. Probably the cause of the distortion - low data transfer rate

After the first flight, two more versions of the device will be launched, which will be sent with Falcon Heavy launch vehicles from SpaceX. At this time, experts will check the performance of the principle of the movement of the solar sail. It is worth noting that the moment of deployment of the sail will be removed by another satellite, Prox-1.

The cost of the entire project was 4 million US dollars, and the investors were private individuals. Perhaps this project will help to create ships that are not experienced, but used in the space industry, capable of carrying a person over long distances.