A laser mounted on the moon could propel small spacecraft carrying light sails through space to help us explore faster and map distant regions for the first time
Space 7 September 2025
By Alex Wilkins
Attaching light sails to CubeSats could allow them to be propelled across space by lasers
ESA/Medialab
A swarm of tiny spacecraft propelled by a powerful laser could enable us to more rapidly explore space, and they would work as a network to map out the properties of bodies in our solar system like the sun and distant planets.
One possible method for reaching other planets and stars is by using a light sail, a thin material that can be pushed through space by particles of light, or photons, at high speed. …
