A fact of life in the 21^st Century is that humanity is becoming increasingly reliant on the utilisation of space-based technologies, be it for communications, weather monitoring or any number of other applications. This means that governments world-wide are investing in space in order to compete with their neighbours. Particularly for countries without huge budgets, this means looking for cheaper but just as effective alternatives, to conventionally high-cost launch vehicles and spacecraft.

Solar sails are a type of low-cost spacecraft that are being developed globally by all of the major space research agencies. They are extremely large and typically have complex moving parts that facilitate the deployment of the sail, once it has initially been deployed by its launch vehicle.

In recent years, the representation of the classic solar sail has been modified and improved upon with the eventual aim of creating a smaller, viable “Solar kite” design. In 2004, Dr. C.S. Welch and C. Jack published their final mission feasibility study for the solar kite as part of European Space Agency funded research (Contract No: 17679/03/NL/SFe). In this study a number of possible missions have been identified including: earth observation, return of dust samples and interplanetary observation techniques. In contrast to past missions, solar kites would prove to be incredibly cost effective, providing low launch, material, and sustainability costs at the same time as competently undertaking high value missions.

In the 2004 ‘Solar Kite Mission Feasibility Study’ (Jack and Welch), a proposal was made for a solar kite design that facilitates the easy accommodation of two solar kites in the ASAP-5 bay of an Ariane 5 launch vehicle. The design includes the folding of all the kite structures around a central payload, thus reducing the total surface area and reducing the risk of damage on launch. Upon ejecting the kite from the ASAP-5 bay the kite is first released from the storage pallet before making use of sprung steel hinges that assist in the sequential unfurling of the kite material. Although specifications for the hinges have been suggested, the exact unfurling sequence and its consequences on the kite’s attitude and spin are neither detailed nor in fact known.

This experiment proposal is designed to add value to the initial investment made by the European Space Agency, by testing and verifying the practicalities of the proposed kite’s unfurling mechanism (Jack and Welch 2004). This will enable areas for improvement and re-design to be identified, aiding in the advancement of solar kite study and ensuring the positive evolution of solar kite systems and sub-systems.