Maneuvering spacecraft having solar sails

Abstract

Embodiments herein describe maneuvering a spacecraft using a solar sail when sunlight is not available. Smaller satellites may rely solely on solar sails in order to maneuver to different locations (e.g., different orbits) to adjust for orbital decay, avoid collisions with other satellites, or to avoid space junk. However, solar sails cannot rely on the sun when orbiting on the dark side of a planet (e.g., when in the earth's shadow). When a spacecraft should maneuver but the sun is not available as a power source, the embodiments herein describe identifying other spacecraft within line-of-sight (LOS) of the spacecraft and using these spacecraft to direct lasers (or reflecting sunlight if available) at the spacecraft to maneuver it to a desired path (e.g., a new orbit).