A space mirror orbiting the Earth that could be seen in the night sky by six billion people as a bright star-like object, as bright as the planet Venus, may be launched in 2001.
Called the Star of Tolerance, the mirror is a "solar sail" which uses the sun's energy in much the same way that a yacht moves across the waves by wind in its sails.
The mirror would be placed first into a 200km x 36,000km geostationary transfer orbit, possibly on an Ariane fight carrying a communications satellite.
It would then be propelled by solar power - photons streaming out from the sun - to a potential speed of 150km/s, gradually raising the high point of its orbit so that it will fly beyond the moon.
The low point of the orbit would remain the same so the mirror will still be able to be seen during parts of the sail's elongated orbit of the Earth.
However, by 2004, the sail will have broken the bonds of earth's gravity and set course for deep space.
The Star of Tolerance is the brainchild of Nersi Razavi and is supported by Unesco as a potential symbol of tolerance, a virtue that could lead to peace in the world.
It was selected by the European Space Agency in 1996, in a contest for projects to mark humanity's entry into the Third Millennium.
The project will need to be financed privately, mainly by the space industry and agencies and industrial and financial groups.
Laboratory
Enough funds - about four million euros - have been raised to allow an operational 400m2 laboratory model of the mirror to be built.
The space mirror is more than symbol. It is a prototype of a future way to propel spacecraft through deep space as a solar sail. A similar project is being planned by NASA for use of an interplanetary mission in 2003.
Rezavi hopes that an International Solar Sail Regatta in 2007 could be staged in space to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the European Union.
Source: Flight Daily News
