According to an internal document presented to the ISS Exploration Capabilities Study Team, Canadian specialists believe a solar sail could play a secondary role in orienting the DSG, saving fuel for traditional rocket thrusters designed to maintain the outpost's position. Under this proposal, the main thrust for the station's maneuvers still comes from electric propulsion and traditional liquid propellant engines.

The baseline concept used for initial calculations calls for a rectangular sail spanning an area of about 50 square meters, deployed on the exterior of the station by a robotic arm. This could reportedly save at least 9 kilograms of hydrazine per year needed to keep the outpost correctly oriented in space. Although a relatively small number, 9 kilograms per year adds up over the station's projected 15-year mission, especially when considering the tremendous cost of delivering cargo to lunar orbit. The station's current design allocates 135 kilograms of hydrazine fuel for counteracting gravitational disturbances, as well as solar radiation pressure exerted on the station's exterior in lunar orbit. At least part of this attitude-control job could be shifted to a solar sail.

When the solar sail is not needed, it could be either folded or hidden behind the station's solar panels relative to the Sun, so that solar radiation no longer presses on its surface.

Besides the rectangular panel, other shapes and designs are also on the table, including discs and umbrella-type structures. One clever concept proposed to attach a foldable sail to a robotic arm, which will bend around its elbow to unfurl the sail like an old-fashioned fan.

The final architecture of the solar sail is important because the design team is hard-pressed to keep the mass of the sail structure to an absolute minimum to justify its effectiveness. Very preliminary estimates show the mass of the solar sail system could be kept between 38 and 52 kilograms.

Potentially, the solar sail could also be used as an extra power-generating array, but the cost-benefit analysis of such a combination is also in the early stages. Engineers will also be challenged to pick the right compromise between the size and mass of the sail; the bigger the sail, the faster it can steer the station, but the larger it gets, the more weight penalties it brings to the whole project.