Exploring the Kuiper Belt with Sun-diving Solar Sails

TL;DR

This paper proposes using small spacecraft with solar sails, deployed at perihelion, to efficiently survey Kuiper Belt Objects by leveraging electromagnetic propulsion and thermal desorption for increased travel distance.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mission concept combining solar sails and thermal desorption to enhance Kuiper Belt exploration efficiency from a single launch.

Findings

Thermal desorption can significantly boost sail propulsion.

Single launch with multiple spacecraft is feasible.

Potential for extensive Kuiper Belt survey with minimal launches.

Abstract

We discuss a possibility to survey many Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO) with a single launch using a few smallscale spacecraft, each equipped with solar sails, which could be unfurled from a single interplanetary bus at the perihelion of that craft's solar orbit. Each small-scale spacecraft would carry a scientific payload and would be directed to intersect one or more KBOs. The proposed scenario is the following: the sails are carried as a payload to a relatively small heliocentric distance (0.1 - 0.3 AU). Once at the perihelion, the sails are deployed. Besides electromagnetic propulsion due to the solar radiation, another mechanism could be convenient: thermal desorption, a physical process of mass loss which can provide additional thrust as heating liberates atoms, embedded on the surface of a solar sail. Therefore, the sails experience additional propulsive force due to the thermal desorption that dramatically increases the distance that sails travel per year.