China is Working on Solar Sails to Help Further Deep Space Exploration

China is working to secure its place as the next leader in space exploration. They currently have engineers working to build powerful solar sails that can travel vast distances

Even though it has been nearly five decades since humans first landed on the moon, the technology for getting astronauts to leave Earth’s atmosphere is mostly unchanged. It still relies on rocket power. There have been numerous suggested alternatives over the years, but for now, the majority are only theories or limited to lab experiments.

Nevertheless, space itself is home to many alternatives that would eliminate the need for a finite chemical fuel source. Instead, we could use light-powered propulsion by employing what’s known as ‘solar sails.’ As reported by the Xinhua news agency, engineers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology have stated they’re working on using graphene to produce highly effective solar sails that could be used in in-depth space exploration in the future.

Song Shengju, the research leader of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology team, explained that over 80% of a spacecraft’s weight is composed of chemical fuel. If this could be eliminated, new areas of space exploration would open up. Therefore, the team is working on making graphene sails that could withstand temperatures of over 800 degrees centigrade.

Research conducted by Prof Chen Yongsheng of Nankai University demonstrated that graphene is fantastic at being driven by various light sources — especially sunlight — and can produce thrust 1,000 times higher than polyimide film in vacuum conditions. Presently, solar sail research is centred on Polyimide.

Song stated that this research is only the start. They need to perform more research on the mechanisms and properties of the graphene and light-powered spacecraft. If they make breakthroughs with this technology, it will help further deep space exploration.

What’s more, Pang Zhihao from the China Academy of Space Technology Corporation, said that he and his group are working on an orbiting 1MW solar power station that would launch in space. The concept is that the orbiting power plant would convert solar energy into electricity that would be sent back to Earth via advanced photonics or using microwave transmission.

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