A New Model for the Planetary Radiation Pressure Acceleration for Solar Sails

Solar sailing is a propellantless propulsion method that takes advantage of solar<br/>radiation pressure to generate thrust. The last decades have seen the launch of<br/>several solar-sail missions to demonstrate the technology’s potential for space<br/>exploration and exploitation. Even more missions are scheduled for launch in<br/>the near...

Solar-sail control laws for perturbed Earth-bound trajectories

Solar sailing is a spacecraft propulsion method relying solely on solar radiation pressure to provide thrust and is therefore propellantless by nature. Although it represents a practical and promising propulsion system particularly suited for heliocentric flight regimes, near-term sailcraft missions will remain Earth-bound due to the current...