Ready to test the new navigation system, which will allow to NASA to organize more and more economical trips to Space.

Science fiction becomes reality in NASA’s new program, as the new navigation system is based on a… solar sail, through which the spacecraft will move using the solar power.

The Advanced Composite Solar Sail System is expected to launch on Tuesday, April 23, on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from the Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula of New Zealand.

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will join the CubeSat mission, about 600 miles above Earth, more than twice the altitude of the International Space Station. To test the performance of NASA’s solar sail, the spacecraft must be in a high enough orbit to test the influence of solar radiation on it and its resistance to pressures to overcome atmospheric drag.

The mission will last approximately two months and will include testing subsystems, the CubeSat, the size of a microwave oven, will deploy its reflective solar sail. The new system will make use of the pressure exerted by solar energy, while the efficiency in terms of speed and endurance will also be measured.