News on private spaceflight
- Google Lunar X Prizet teams call for science payloads
- NASA tests GPS monitoring system for big U.S. Quakes
- Nort-korea's UNHA-2 rocket ready for launch
- SpaceX launch to ISS April 30
- Lego-man in space
- First Vega launch feb 9
- NASA's Nanosail-D 'Sails' Home - Mission Complete
- Europes first Vega rocket to be launched in January
- Re-use of de-commisioned satelittes
- 3 successes for Europa
- Historic launch of first Galileo navigation-satellittes
- Spaceship Company one step closer to space tourism
- "We have lost control of the space environment"
- Plans for space-reactors
- China to launch space station module
- Danish rocket-launch friday
- New megthod for tracking spacejunk: Star-occultations
- Renewed interest in European spaceplane
- US Defence plans for "100 year spaceship" to nearest stars
- USA are worrying over China in space and seeks rules
- First European launch of a Soyuz rocket
- SpaceX milestone accomplished
- Nanosail descends to Earth
- NASA awards contracts for commercial crew-transportation
- Students launches record-breaking balloon
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Sailing to Venus
Friday, 04 February 2011 20:55
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| Spaceflight - Private spaceflight |
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The Small Solar Power Sail Demonstrator "IKAROS" has been in its regular operation phase for about six months to verify navigation by the world's first solar sail device and power generation by the thin-film solar battery. As its missions have been achieved, the IKAROS has completed its regular operations. The demonstrator will be in the post operational phase, which leads to the development of a successor while acquiring basic knowledge of solar power sail technology including a navigation guidance technique. Source: JAXA and the IKAROS Tweet |




The Japanese solar sail mission IKAROS has succesfully achieved its primary goal, and returned this image of teh sail with Venus in the background