![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2016\/02\/polar-sitting_orbit\/15826563-5-eng-GB\/Polar-sitting_orbit_small.jpg\")
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\nTomorrow\u2019s orbit today? This image shows how a large solar sail-equipped satellite could partly offset Earth\u2019s and the Sun\u2019s gravity with the slight but steady pressure of sunlight to hover above the Arctic or Antarctic, enabling continuous coverage of high-latitude regions for climate observation or regional communication services.\n<\/p>\n
\n\u201cStandard space missions employ conventional elliptical \u2018Keplerian\u2019 orbits,\u201d comments Colin McInnes<\/a>, Professor of Engineering Science at the UK\u2019s University of Glasgow.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cHowever, our VisionSpace project has been investigating novel families of orbits and space systems across a broad range of sizes that could make use of additional factors such as solar radiation pressure, air drag or gravitational interactions.\n<\/p>\n \n\u201cThe space systems range from microscale applications such as satellite swarms<\/a> and dust clouds, to mesoscale large deployable space webs<\/a> and solar sails, all the way up to macroscale solutions such as asteroid capture<\/a>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \nVisionSpace<\/a> was a five-year project ending in 2014 to research space system engineering across the extremes of size, funded by the European Research Council.\n<\/p>\n \nProf. McInnes, who oversaw the project while at the University of Strathclyde, was recently invited to ESA\u2019s ESTEC technical centre by the Agency\u2019s Advanced Concepts Team<\/a> to highlight the project\u2019s findings.\n<\/p>\n \nThe ACT is tasked with peering beyond the horizon of current space projects. Further information on ESA’s activities concerning Earth’s polar regions can be found on the ESA Space for Earth<\/a> website. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \nTomorrow’s orbit today? This image shows how a large solar sail-equipped satellite could partly offset Earth’s and the Sun’s gravity with the slight but steady pressure of sunlight to hover above the Arctic or Antarctic, enabling continuous coverage of high-latitude regions for climate observation or regional communication services.\n<\/p>\n \n“Standard space missions employ conventional elliptical ‘Keplerian’ orbits,” comments Colin McInnes<\/a>, Professor of Engineering Science at the UK’s University of Glasgow.\n<\/p>\n \n“However, our VisionSpace project has been investigating novel families of orbits and space systems across a broad range of sizes that could make use of additional factors such as solar radiation pressure, air drag or gravitational interactions.\n<\/p>\n \n“The space systems range from microscale applications such as satellite swarms<\/a> and dust clouds, to mesoscale large deployable space webs<\/a> and solar sails, all the way up to macroscale solutions such as asteroid capture<\/a>.”\n<\/p>\n \nVisionSpace<\/a> was a five-year project ending in 2014 to research space system engineering across the extremes of size, funded by the European Research Council.\n<\/p>\n \nProf. McInnes, who oversaw the project while at the University of Strathclyde, was recently invited to ESA’s ESTEC technical centre by the Agency’s Advanced Concepts Team<\/a> to highlight the project’s findings.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n