Solar sails have not had the best of luck, with several having been lost when their booster rockets went kerblooey. A few have been successful, such as the Japanese IKAROS from 2010. Provisionally add to the list the Lightsail-2, recently launched by SpaceX, now confirmed to have successfully deployed its sail.
Lightsail-1 was launched in 2015. It successfully deployed its sail but had been delivered (by design) to an orbit where atmospheric drag was a bigger force than solar photon pressure, and thus the craft did not escape from Earth. lightsail-2 was deployed to a higher orbit and is expected to use its sail to raise apogee, while also lowering perigee. This will, if successful, demonstrate the utility of solar sails for orbit adjustment in Earth orbit. It will, however, also result in the inevitable re-entry of the spacecraft. Given the small size of the Lightsail package and the lowered cost of launch SpaceX provide, if the system works out a solar sail on a small budget might soon zip on out of Earth orbit and go to the Moon, Mars or beyond.
This one goes out to all the members and backers who made this solar sailing mission possible. Go #LightSail2! pic.twitter.com/Wzc7V67HDi
— Planetary Society (@exploreplanets) July 24, 2019