Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have devised a new method of Solar Sail propulsion that could make the trip from Earth to Mars in just one month.

A team of scientists at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has developed a way to power aircrafts with an invisible ground-based laser, enabling planes to stay in flight for extended periods of time.

After decades of on-again, off-again experimentation, the Tesla-inspired dream of powering aircraft with lasers beamed from the ground is now showing signs of becoming real, at least in a modest way.

Researchers from nine nations and from various groups across the United States met recently to discuss progress on laser propulsion or "beam solar sailing."

Japanese researchers propose developing small airplanes that would be powered by a laser source from the ground.

NASA and the U.S. Air Force are slated to launch laser-propelled vehicles, dubbed 'Lightcraft', in mid-August. Lightcraft fly atop a beam of laser light, harnessing the beam's energy and converting it into propulsive thrust.