Are We There Yet? Startup Wants to Launch an 80,000-Year Mission to Alpha Centauri
AI data centers in space apparently weren’t enough, so the company decided to give interstellar travel a try.
A startup led by Starcloud co-founders Philip Johnston, Adi Oltean, and Ezra Feilden is developing humanity's first interstellar spacecraft named Fermi Explorer. The non-profit mission aims to launch an 80,000-year journey to the closest star system, Alpha Centauri. The spacecraft, weighing about 1 kilogram, will be attached to a propulsion system and launched into space.
Once in orbit, it will circle the sun for 12 years, gaining speed using the Oberth maneuver, before launching itself towards Alpha Centauri. The mission is intended to make interstellar travel real and encourage people to confront one of humanity's biggest unanswered questions. The Fermi Explorer is expected to leave the solar system by the early 2040s, far beyond the lifetimes of current and future generations.
The $15 million project will be funded and built using existing technology, with the help of a commercial rocket like SpaceX's.
Written by urgent.news from CNET's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
