Momentus, a U.S. commercial space company offering satellites, satellite components, and in-space transportation and hosted payload services, announced that it was awarded a NASA contract to support the Space Storms Solar Sail Sentinel Demonstration Study for a potential mission based on the cislunar-capable Vigoride spacecraft platform. Momentus recently completed this study and submitted the final report to NASA under this contract awarded in 2025.
After reviewing the results of this study, NASA may consider awarding a follow-on contract to conduct further study or a flight demonstration of the solar sail through the Flight Opportunities program, managed at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. The solar sail would measure 1,652 square meters, which is 17,782 square feet or about one-third the size of an American football field. For a flight demonstration, the selected hosted orbital platform provider would be responsible for the bus and system integration of the solar sail technologies delivered by NASA.
The study focused on a solar sail jointly developed by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Designed to enable space weather–monitoring satellites to maneuver closer to the Sun, the spacecraft would help provide earlier warning and increase the time available to respond to critical solar weather events like geomagnetic storms by measuring the solar wind (magnetic field and plasma) farther from Earth. Solar sails work by harnessing the pressure exerted by sunlight, allowing a spacecraft to move without conventional propellant. The mission would demonstrate how a solar sail can be controlled and maneuvered for navigation.
“Momentus is proud to support this next-gen solar sail mission study with our Vigoride Orbital Service Vehicle. Vigoride’s modular design enables us to rapidly integrate complex, diverse hosted mission payloads,” said John Rood, CEO of Momentus. “We’re pleased to again be entrusted by NASA to perform cutting-edge work to unlock new frontiers in space-based systems. We’re excited to help usher in a new era where solar sail propulsion provides new orbital capabilities.”
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