Solar Sails: The Key to Interplanetary Travel and Exoplanet Imaging at Low Resolution

An international group of researchers led by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory physicist Slava Turyshev has proposed using solar sails and smallsats to explore the outer solar system and beyond. The team has developed potential craft that could reach speeds of up to 33 kilometers per second, or around seven astronomical units per year, without any propellant, greatly reducing weight and volume of potential spacecraft. The researchers say they've developed potential craft that could be built for between $30-$75 million, as opposed to the $2-$5 billion cost "of a typical flagship-type deep space mission." The ultimate goal is to photograph exoplanets in relative detail, as the solar gravitational lens offers intense brightness amplification and angular resolution.