ESA is looking at using the world's thinnest known material to build lighter, more efficient solar sails. By making sails out of one-atom-thick graphene sheets, the space agency aims to make sails ...

Tom Whidden is one of those lucky and rare fellows who has successfully carved a career out of a passion. At the tender age of 18, Mr. Whidden decided that he wanted to be a sail maker, an activity ...

For decades, researchers have explored light sails as an alternative. These devices use radiation pressure—the force exerted when light reflects from a surface—to generate thrust. When driven by a ...

A tiny spacecraft in Earth orbit has successfully deployed its solar sails. Called LightSail 2, the craft will now use the power of the Sun to lift its orbital height even further, in what’s ...