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Electric sails are potentially more effective than light sails near most stars

Lingam, Manasvi; Loeb, Abraham

Electric sails are propulsion systems that generate momentum via the deflection of stellar wind particles through electric forces. Here, we investigate the relative merits of electric sails and light sails driven by stellar radiation pressure for F-, G-, K- and M-type stellar systems. We show that electric sails originating near M-dwarfs could att…