Bruce Murray (L), founder of the Planetary Society (TPS), Ann Druyian (C) of Cosmos Studios and Jim Cantrell, chief technician of TPS, speak about the tracking of Cosmos 1, the world’s first solar sail spacecraft, during a news conference at the Planetary Society and Cosmos Studios in Pasadena, California June 21, 2005.
REUTERS/Gene Blevins

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Backers of a failed mission to launch the world’s first solar-sail spacecraft unveiled plans on Monday to try again five years later with a smaller, swifter satellite to test the limits of sunlight propulsion.

The privately funded venture, organized by the Pasadena, California-based Planetary Society, is based on the premise of spaceflight powered not by rocket fuel or chemical propellants but by streams of photons — light particles — pushing against a sail in the vacuum of space.

Some space enthusiasts see solar sailing as a first step in light-powered propulsion technology that may prove the most feasible mode of travel to distant stars.

But experts say the technology has nearer-term applications in establishing permanent solar weather stations for monitoring magnetic storms on the sun that can wreak havoc on Earth-bound communication networks and electrical grids.

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