Podcasts · Universe Today Podcast

[Interview+] Two Football Fields of Solar Sail in One Rocket | NIAC 2026

7 Oct 2026 · 47 min

BONUS PART STARTS AT 25:44

Watch here (with no ads) or on YouTube https://youtu.be/B8xbSUstIhA

🟣 Guest: Dr. Artur Davoyan https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/artur-davoyan/

Solar sails are great. It's a propulsion method that doesn't require carrying fuel. But the need to be really big to be efficient. How do you fold them on Earth and unfold in space? What's a reliable way to do that? NASA recently awarded a NIAC grant specifically for that.

📜 Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/coilable-stacked-solar-sails-for-very-high-delta-v-missions/

👉 All 2026 NIAC Selections https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/

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00:00 Intro

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01:31 Solar sail as a propulsion method

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25:44 Alternative propulsion methods

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38:38 Current obsessions

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44:54 Final thoughts

Links in the notes 4

• https://youtu.be/B8xbSUstIhA
• https://samueli.ucla.edu/people/artur-davoyan/
• https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/coilable-stacked-solar-sails-for-very-high-delta-v-missions/
• https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/niac-2026-selections/

The episode on the publisher’s site ↗ (opens in a new tab)