ISSS 2027 | International Symposium on Space Sailing

About & scope

Advancing every form of space sailing.

The International Symposium on Space Sailing returns to the United Kingdom in 2027, hosted by the University of Surrey in Guildford. Since its inauguration in Herrsching, Germany, in 2007, the ISSS has been held in New York, USA (2010), Glasgow, UK (2013), Kyoto, Japan (2017), Aachen, Germany (2019), New York, USA (2023), and Delft, Netherlands (2025).

Following the tradition of these previous symposia, ISSS 2027 welcomes contributions on recent advances in all areas related to space sailing, including, but not limited to, reflective and diffractive solar sails, drag sails, electric sails, magnetic and plasma sails, beamed-energy sails, planetary sunshades, and orbital heliostats and solar reflectors. Contributions are invited on missions and applications; dynamics, guidance, navigation and control; systems, hardware, enabling technologies and materials; modelling, simulation, testing and qualification; and operations, safety and space sustainability. Historical, educational and community perspectives are also welcome.

Missions & applications

Mission concepts, deep-space exploration, Earth observation, planetary defence and novel applications.

Dynamics, guidance & control

Trajectory and orbit design, attitude dynamics and control, formation flying, autonomy and navigation.

Systems, hardware & materials

Sail membranes, deployable booms, communication, spacecraft architectures, enabling technologies and materials.

Modelling, simulation & testing

Simulation, ground and flight tests, deployment demonstrations and qualification methods.

Operations, safety & space sustainability

Mission operations, collision avoidance, disposal strategies, environmental impacts and long-term sustainability.

Reflective & diffractive solar sails Drag sails Electric sails Magnetic & plasma sails Beamed-energy sails Planetary sunshades Orbital heliostats and solar reflectors

What’s ahead

Programme and call for papers coming soon.

01

Call for papers

Coming soon

02

Technical programme

Coming soon

Registration

Registration coming soon.

Coming soon

Registration dates, participation fees and booking guidance will be published here when confirmed.

Location

Welcome to Guildford.

Guildford is a historic market town just southwest of London, with a cobbled High Street, a medieval castle and the Surrey Hills on its doorstep.

It is an inviting place to spend a few early-summer days talking about space sailing, orbit analysis and mission design.

Discover Guildford

Guildford High Street with the Guildhall clock and the Surrey Hills beyond — Guildford High Street · Photo courtesy of Experience Guildford

Getting here

Journey times are indicative.

01

From central London

London Waterloo

Fast direct train · around 35–40 minutes · typically every 30 minutes

Plan by train

02

From London Gatwick · LGW

Gatwick Airport

Direct train · around 45–50 minutes · typically every 30 minutes

Plan by train

03

From London Heathrow · LHR

Heathrow Airport

Direct coach · around 60–90 minutes · typically every hour

Plan by coach

Duke of Kent Building beside the lake on the University of Surrey’s Stag Hill campus — Duke of Kent Building · Stag Hill lake

Venue

University of Surrey, Stag Hill

The 8th International Symposium on Space Sailing will take place in Room 03 MS 01, Rik Medlik Building (MS), beside Austin Pearce Plaza on the University of Surrey’s Stag Hill campus. The venue is around a 20-minute walk from Guildford railway station, and the Lakeside Coffee Shop is located in the same building.

Room: 03 MS 01 · Rik Medlik Building (MS)
From the train station: Allow around 20 minutes on foot
From the town centre: Allow 25 minutes on foot or
10–15 minutes by Route 1 bus

Campus map Travel guidance Route 1 timetable

Accommodation

Stay information is being prepared.

To be confirmed

Recommended accommodation options and booking guidance will be published here when confirmed.

Organising committee

The team behind ISSS 2027.

International Committee

Alesia Herasimenka Chair Surrey Space Centre, University of Surrey · United Kingdom
Bernd Dachwald FH Aachen University of Applied Sciences · Germany
Bruce A. Campbell B.C. Space · United States
Catello Leonardo Matonti Politecnico di Torino · Italy
Elena Ancona OKAPI:Orbits · Germany
Jeannette Heiligers Delft University of Technology · Netherlands
Les Johnson Infinite Frontiers Consulting · NASA · United States
Livio Carzana Delft University of Technology · Netherlands
Matteo Ceriotti University of Glasgow · United Kingdom
Maximilien Berthet The University of Tokyo · Japan
Morgan Goodwin Planetary Sunshade Institute · United States
Onur Çelik Delft University of Technology · Netherlands
Patric Seefeldt German Aerospace Center (DLR) · Germany
Roman Kezerashvili New York City College of Technology, CUNY · United States

Local Committee

Alesia Herasimenka Chair
Andrew Viquerat
Eren Gunaltay
Jayden Ting
John Papoudos
Nicola Baresi
Wojciech Kalinowski

ISSS2027@surrey.ac.uk

Contact

Questions about ISSS 2027?

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