From the exciting field of private sector space innovation:
- A privately funded and experimental spacecraft blasted off on Tuesday from a Russian submarine in a venture funded by space enthusiasts who see their solar-driven orbiter as a way to reinvigorate a race to the stars.
Cosmos 1, the world's first solar sail spacecraft, launched in the tip of a converted Russian intercontinental ballistic missile from the Barents Sea for the start of a mission that cost just $4 million.
Its Planetary Society sponsors hope the craft, which will deploy a petal-shaped solar sail to power its planned orbit around Earth, will show that sunlight could power interplanetary space travel.
