solar sail
noun
: a propulsive device for a spacecraft that consists of a flat material (such as aluminized plastic) designed to receive thrust from solar radiation pressure
Examples of solar sail in a Sentence
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While three spacecraft would be powered by conventional fuel, the fourth would have a solar sail roughly a third of the size of a football field.
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Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb proposed that 'Oumuamua was actually a thin solar sail (a sail designed to catch solar radiation instead of wind), which had caught the solar wind and used it to accelerate.
—Kiona N. Smith, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
Other spacecraft have used radiation pressure to adjust their orbits, and solar sails have already had a few successful missions.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Jan. 2015
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Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2025
Harvard University astrophysicist Avi Loeb proposed that 'Oumuamua was actually a thin solar sail (a sail designed to catch solar radiation instead of wind), which had caught the solar wind and used it to accelerate.
—Kiona N. Smith, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
Other spacecraft have used radiation pressure to adjust their orbits, and solar sails have already had a few successful missions.
—IEEE Spectrum, 26 Jan. 2015
See All Example Sentences for solar sail
Cite this Entry
“Solar sail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/solar%20sail. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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