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A statite (a portmanteau of static and satellite) is a hypothetical type of artificial satellite
Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
 that employs a solar sail
Solar sail

Solar sails are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors. Radiation pressure is about 10-5 pascal at Earth's distance from the Sun and decreases by the square of the distance from the light source , but unlike rockets, solar sails require no reaction mass....
 to continuously modify its orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
 in ways that gravity alone would not allow. Typically, a statite would use the solar sail to "hover" in a location that would not otherwise be available as a stable geosynchronous orbit
Geosynchronous orbit

A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period matching the Earth's sidereal day rotation period. This synchronization means that for an observer at a fixed location on Earth, a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same place in the sky at exactly the same time each day....
.






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Statite Us005183225 005
A statite (a portmanteau of static and satellite) is a hypothetical type of artificial satellite
Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an Physical body which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
 that employs a solar sail
Solar sail

Solar sails are a proposed form of spacecraft propulsion using large membrane mirrors. Radiation pressure is about 10-5 pascal at Earth's distance from the Sun and decreases by the square of the distance from the light source , but unlike rockets, solar sails require no reaction mass....
 to continuously modify its orbit
ORBit

ORBit is a Common Object Request Broker Architecture 2.4 compliant Object Request Broker . It features mature C , C++ and Python bindings, and less developed bindings for Perl, Lisp , Pascal , Ruby , and Tcl....
 in ways that gravity alone would not allow. Typically, a statite would use the solar sail to "hover" in a location that would not otherwise be available as a stable geosynchronous orbit
Geosynchronous orbit

A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period matching the Earth's sidereal day rotation period. This synchronization means that for an observer at a fixed location on Earth, a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit returns to exactly the same place in the sky at exactly the same time each day....
. Statites have been proposed that would remain in fixed locations high over Earth
Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun. Earth is the largest of the terrestrial planets in the Solar System in diameter, mass and density. It is also referred to as the World and Wiktionary:Terra.Note that by International Astronomical Union convention, the term "Terra" is used for naming extensive land masses, rather...
's poles, using reflected sunlight
Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total spectroscopy of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is Filter ed through the Earth's atmosphere, and the solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon....
 to counteract the gravity pulling them down. Statites might also employ their sails to change the shape or velocity of more conventional orbits, depending upon the purpose of the particular statite.

The concept of the statite was invented by Robert L. Forward
Robert Forward

Robert Lull Forward, commonly known as Robert L. Forward, was an United States physicist and science fiction writer. His fiction is noted for its scientific credibility, and uses many ideas developed during his work as an aerospace engineer....
. No statites have been deployed to date, as solar sail technology is still in its infancy. See Forward's U.S. Patent 5,183,225, "Statite: Spacecraft That Utilizes Light Pressure and Method of Use," filed 9 January 1989 and issued 2 February 1993 (external link below).

See also

  • Sunshade
    Sunshade

    A space sunshade can be described as a big parasol that wikt:diverts some of the suns rays, stopping them from hitting the earth and heating the planet, mitigation of global warming of global warming through solar radiation management....
  • Solar mirror
    Solar mirror

    A solar mirror is a reflective surface used for gathering and reflecting solar energy in a system being powered by solar energy. It comprises a glass Substrate , a reflective layer for reflecting the solar energy, and an interference layer....


Patents

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