Private group wants to launch "cheapest possible" mission to Alpha Centauri

Private company Starcloud, co-founded by UK-based mathematician and physicist Philip Johnston in 2024, is seeking to launch the most cost-effective mission to the Alpha Centauri star system. Johnston, who is well-known in the space community for his advocacy of orbital data centers, believes that a filter may exist which prevents advanced civilizations from sending probes or life-bearing spacecraft to neighboring stars.

Johnston's startup, valued at $2.3 billion, aims to explore the possibility of extraterrestrial life by addressing the Fermi paradox, which questions why we have not yet detected signs of intelligent life despite the high likelihood of its existence in the universe.