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Solar sail deployed on Insat-2E

A 14-metre solar sail and boom was deployed the north face of Insat-2E this morning.

According to an official release, the work was done in two stages, by firing an explosive device to release the sail and boom assembly and later by operating a motor for about 15 minutes to ensure controlled deployment.

When it was launched, the sail and boom assembly was compactly packed, occupying about 1/50th of its final deployed length. The boom was made of an ultra lightweight glass fibre, weighing about 3.5 kg. The sail measuring 2 m across and 5 m high, weighs less than a kilogram, the release said.

Insat-2E carries a meteorological payload, which requires that the detector be maintained at an extremely low temperature. To keep the temperature down, solar arrays were placed on one face. But to counteract the force generated by the sun's radiation on the south array, a solar sail mounted on a boom was planned for the north side.

The sail and boom were indigenously designed, developed and manufactured at the Indian Space Research Organisation Satellite Centre. It was extensively tested in simulated zero-gravity conditions, the release said.

With this the satellite was ready for the payload to start functioning, the release said.

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