solar sail

noun

1. Aerospace. a design concept for spacecraft propulsion consisting of a very thin, very large sheet of highly polished material that would be driven by the pressure of sunlight.

solar sail

noun

1. a device that reflects light particles from the Sun, gaining momentum in the opposite direction to propel spacecraft forwards

solar sail

1. A saillike device that is made of lightweight and highly reflective material and attached to a spacecraft to harness the radiation pressure of the solar wind and light for propulsion.
2. Also called light sail

Word History and Origins

Origin of solar sail¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

The spacecraft’s school bus-sized solar sail is made from a tough, Saran-wrap-like plastic that catches sunbeams as the probe leaves our planet behind.

From Popular-Science

At the University of Liverpool, we are exploring new manufacturing techniques for printing ultralight solar cells on to solar sails.

From Singularity Hub