After 3.5 years and 18,000 orbits of the Earth, The Planetary Society’s LightSail 2 solar sail spacecraft has reentered the Earth’s atmosphere in a blaze of glory.
This was always going to be LightSail 2’s fate, and the spacecraft actually stayed up for much longer than originally predicted. The entire mission was a huge success, showing that solar sails can propel a CubeSat spacecraft and paving the way for future solar sailing missions now underway.
If you are a member of The Planetary Society, then you are a member of the LightSail 2 mission team. This groundbreaking mission was made possible by the support of our members and today we hope you join us in celebrating the advances in exploration technology that we all made possible together.
Thank you so much for being a part of this amazing mission.