ZNAMYA (SOLAR SPACE MIRRORS)

Russian space agency started a mission of a series of experimental orbital mirrors that were designed to beam solar power to earth by reflecting sunlight.

The project started with Znamya 2 which was a 20-meter wide solar space mirror and launched on 27 October 1992.

the project was successful and produced 5 Km wide bright spot, the bright spot has the luminosity of a bright full moon the mirror was de-orbited after several hours and burned up in the re-entry in the atmosphere.

Znamya 2.5 was the successor of Znamya 2 and had a diameter of 25 meters, it was launched on 5 February 1999.

It produced a bright spot of 7 Km in diameter and the luminosity was between five to ten moons.

soon after deployment, it caught on the Russian space station and after several failed attempts it was de-orbited and burned up in the re-entry in the atmosphere.

These missions were based on the solar sail propulsion system which uses solar radiation pressure to move the spacecraft in the space.

Solar radiation pressure is measured and it can affect a spacecraft going to mars by thousands of kilometers.

Znamya 3 was intended to be the better version than Znamya 2.5,

with a 60-70 meter diameter mirror, but it was abandoned by Russian federal space agency after the failed deployment of Znamya 2.5.