Japan said Friday its kite-shaped “space yacht,” designed to float through space using only the power of the sun, successfully started sailing with solar power generation. A Japanese rocket last month launched the experimental Ikaros — Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun — designed to be propelled by the pressure of sunlight particles. The technology could eventually enable space travel without fuel, as long as there is sunlight. The device has a square, ultra-thin and flexible sail that will be driven through space as it is pelted by solar particles. It is headed in the direction of Venus.
