| Mission type | Technology: solar sail propulsion |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA / University of Illinois |
| Website | cubesail and cuaerospace |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft type | 2 × 1.5 U CubeSats |
| Manufacturer | University of Illinois |
| Launch mass | ~ 3 kg |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 16 December 2018[1] |
| Rocket | Electron |
| Launch site | Rocket Lab LC-1 |
| Contractor | Rocket Lab |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Low Earth |
CubeSail was a 2018 low-cost spacecraft propulsion demonstration mission using two identical 1.5U CubeSat satellites to deploy a 260 m (850 ft) long, 20 m2 (220 sq ft) solar sail ribbon between them.[2] This mission was a first in a series of increasingly-complex planned demonstrations leading up to a full-scale UltraSail heliogyro[3] by the University of Illinois and CU Aerospace.[needs update]