From planetary rovers and asteroid sample return missions to the recent Artemis II flight above the far side of the moon, we are seemingly good at doing space. But our achievements still do not match many of our space dreams, science fiction or otherwise.

One of the long-mentioned ways of achieving some of our ambitions for exploring the cosmos is space sails. These are large, lightweight structures that use the radiation pressure of sunlight to move. But apart from a handful of demonstration missions, including Japan’s IKAROS spacecraft, the technology has still not really gotten off the ground.