Huntsville Company’s Solar Sail Propulsion Extending Deep Space Exploration

A CubeSat developed by the Huntsville company NeXolve and NASA will soon take space exploration even further.

Known as the Near Earth Asteroid Scout, the small craft was developed under NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Program at Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

CubeSats show immense promise for space-based science and exploration, engineering support and relay communications, and Earth observation. The approximately shoebox-sized spacecraft will be propelled by NeXolve’s 925 square foot solar sail.

“Solar Sails offer a propellant-less in-space propulsion option that is very efficient and enabling as a delivery mechanism for inter-planetary and interstellar science mission payloads,” said Jim Moore, NeXolve President and CEO. “Through significant collaboration with NASA MSFC, NeXolve has developed and demonstrated the capability to design solar sails, produce solar sail material, and then fabricate, package, and test large solar sails using their unique mechanisms and processes.”

Artist Rendering of deployed NeXolve solar sail in action

Designed and developed by NeXolve, the solar sail is made from CP1 film with a reflective coating. Stainless steel alloy booms, another NeXolve product, deploy these mirror-like sails that then use reflected particles of light radiating from the sun to generate thrust.

“Solar Sails harness and reflect the Sun’s energy to produce a low but continuous acceleration in space. Over the long term, the continuous acceleration results in high velocity that enables deep space science missions. Solar sail missions can also be coupled with innovative Sun swing-by trajectories to benefit from even more “free” energy,” said Jim Pearson, Aerospace Products Director.

The efficiency of the solar sails will enable propulsion through space indefinitely, reaching and maintaining orbits previously inaccessible.

NeXolve Holding Company, a leading provider of advanced technology and engineering services that provides high-performance materials and hardware to commercial and government customers around the globe, is headquartered at 290 Dunlop Blvd Building 200 in Huntsville. Since its founding, it has worked closely with NASA, DoD, and commercial companies to manufacture and design aerospace products and high-performance polymer materials for electronics, display, and aerospace applications.