Abstract
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) makes the world's first solar power sail craft IKAROS demonstration of photon propulsion and thin film solar power generation during its interplanetary cruise. The spacecraft deploys and spans a membrane of 20 meters in diameter using the spin centrifugal force. It also deploys thin film solar cells on the membrane, in order to evaluate its thermal control property and anti-radiation performance in the real operational field. The spacecraft weights approximately 310kg, launched together with the agency's Venus Climate Orbiter, AKATSUKI on May 21, 2010. This is a Front-Loading of new key technical issues of extended solar power sail mission toward Jupiter and Trojan asteroids via hybrid electric photon propulsion. This paper presents the summary of development and operation of IKAROS.
