Interstellar Probe - Interstellar Concepts

Interstellar Concepts

Project Orion (1958–1965)

Project Orion was a proposed nuclear pulse propulsion craft that used fission or fusion bombs to apply motive force. The design was studied during the 1950s and 1960s in the United States of America, with one variant of the craft capable of interstellar travel.

Bracewell probe (1960)

Interstellar communication via a probe, as opposed to sending an electromagnetic signal.

Sanger Photon Rocket (1950s-1964)

Eugene Sanger proposed a spacecraft powered by antimatter in the 1950s. Thrust was intended to come from reflected gamma-rays produced by electron-positron annihilation.

Enzmann Starship (1964/1973)

Proposed by 1964 and examined in an October 1973 issue of Analog, the Enzmann Starship proposed using a 12,000 ton ball of frozen deuterium to power thermonuclear powered pulse propulsion. About twice as long as the Empire State Building and assembled in-orbit, the spacecraft was part of a larger project preceded by large interstellar probes and telescopic observation of target star systems.

Project Daedalus (1973–1978)

Project Daedalus was a proposed nuclear pulse propulsion craft that used inertial confinement fusion of small pellets within a magnetic field nozzle to provide motive force. The design was studied during the 1970s by the British Interplanetary Society, and was meant to flyby Barnard's Star in under a century from launch. Plans included mining Helium-3 from Jupiter and a pre-launch mass of over 50 thousand metric tonnes from orbit.

Project Longshot (1987–1988)

Project Longshot was a proposed nuclear pulse propulsion craft that used inertial confinement fusion of small pellets within a magnetic field nozzle to provide motive force, in a manner similar to that of Project Daedalus. The design was studied during the 1990s by NASA and the US Naval Academy. The craft was designed to reach and study Alpha Centauri.

Starwisp (1985)

Starwisp is a hypothetical unmanned interstellar probe design proposed by Robert L. Forward. It is propelled by a microwave sail, similar to a solar sail in concept, but powered by microwaves from an artificial source.

Medusa (1990s)

Medusa was a proposed nuclear pulse propulsion craft that used fission or fusion bombs to provide propulsion, with a structure similar to a light sail used to derive motive force from the bombs' blast waves. The design was studied during the 1990s by the British Interplanetary Society as a means of interplanetary travel.

Starseed launcher (1996)

Starseed launcher was concept for launching microgram interstellar probes at up to 1/3 light speed.

AIMStar (1990s-2000s)

AIMStar was a proposed antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion craft that used clouds of antiprotons to initiate fission and fusion within fuel pellets. A magnetic nozzle derived motive force from the resulting explosions. The design was studied during the 1990s by Penn State University. The craft was designed to reach a distance of 10,000 AU from the Sun in 50 years.

Project Icarus (2009+)

Project Icarus is theoretical study for an interstellar probe and is being run under the guidance of the Tau Zero Foundation (TZF) and the British Interplanetary Society (BIS), and was motivated by Project Daedalus, a similar study that was conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the BIS. The project is planned to take five years and began on September 30, 2009