As an independent, nongovernmental group, The Planetary Society was able to forge connections with Soviet scientists during the Cold War. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia converted some of its submarine-launched missiles into satellite launchers under the name Volna (Russian for “wave”). In 1999, the Society’s Russian colleagues came to them with a proposal: Work with us to build a solar sail and we’ll fly it on the Volna. Thus was born Cosmos 1, the world’s first solar sail spacecraft.
Cosmos 1 was equipped with eight triangular solar sails held rigid by inflatable booms approximately 15 meters (50 feet) long. Each sail could be individually tilted, allowing the spacecraft to maneuver and track the Sun. The Society’s contribution to the mission was funded by members as well as Cosmos Studios, a venture by Carl Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan.
A 2001 test flight using a scaled-down version of Cosmos 1 ended with a Volna mishap. The full-scale Cosmos 1 launched in 2005, but its Volna rocket failed 82 seconds after launch, sending the solar sail plummeting into the sea.
NASA reentered the solar sailing game in 2008 with NanoSail-D, a technology demonstration aimed at deploying a solar sail from a CubeSat — a small, modular spacecraft the size of a loaf of bread. Like Cosmos 1, the flight of NanoSail-D ended prematurely due to a rocket mishap when its SpaceX Falcon 1 failed to reach orbit.
For a time, NASA considered giving a NanoSail-D flight spare to The Planetary Society. That effort stalled, so the Society decided to develop its own similar mission called LightSail.
Like NanoSail-D, the spacecraft would be based on a three-unit CubeSat. Unlike NanoSail-D, LightSail would be equipped with attitude control, cameras, and two-way communication. And unlike Cosmos 1, LightSail would be a mission undertaken entirely by The Planetary Society, not just as a partner.
Starting in 2009, the LightSail program was funded by members, donors, and 23,500 Kickstarter backers. The initial spacecraft development was completed in 2012, and in 2015, LightSail 1 hitched a free ride to orbit aboard an Atlas V rocket. It successfully tested the deployment of its sails and beamed an image of those sparkling sails home to Earth.