{
  "patent_number": "US 11905044",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Solar Sails Use Moving Vanes to Steer in Space",
  "original_title": "Solar sail for orbital maneuvers",
  "summary": "A solar sail design that uses multiple independently moving reflective vanes made of shape-memory materials to steer spacecraft using only the pressure of sunlight.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a spacecraft propulsion system that captures solar radiation pressure—the tiny force exerted by light hitting a surface—to move through space. Instead of one giant, rigid sail, it uses a central bus (the main body) attached to multiple separate vanes. These vanes are built with shape-memory composites, allowing them to be folded tightly for launch and then spring back into their intended shape once in orbit. Each vane is connected to the bus via actuators that provide either one or two degrees of rotational freedom, letting the craft tilt its sails to change direction or adjust thrust, similar to how a sailboat adjusts its sails to catch the wind.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover solar sails that use a single, continuous, non-segmented sail surface.",
    "Does not cover propulsion systems that rely on chemical or electric thrusters rather than solar radiation pressure.",
    "Does not cover vanes that lack the ability to move or rotate relative to the central bus.",
    "Does not cover rigid sail structures that cannot be folded or stowed using shape-memory materials."
  ],
  "filed": "2021-09-09",
  "granted": "2024-02-20",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "LGarde Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/lgarde-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Darren D. Garber",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/darren-d-garber"
    },
    {
      "name": "Nathaniel C. Barnes",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/nathaniel-c-barnes"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 7,
  "tags": [
    "aerospace",
    "mechanical",
    "materials"
  ],
  "abstract": "A solar sail includes a bus and a plurality of separate movable vanes coupled to the bus. Each movable vane includes a reflective surface for generating solar radiation pressure and propel the solar sail in space. Each vane may be movable relative to the bus in a fully deployed configuration such that an amount of thrust generated by solar radiation pressure on each vane is controllable.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11905044/starlink-rv-roaming",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/11905044/starlink-rv-roaming/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US11905044",
  "relatedPatents": []
}