The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is a UK-registered not-for-profit company, whose objectives are education and research into the challenges of Interstellar Travel. It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes (

Project Dragonfly Project Dragonfly may refer to * Project Dragonfly (space study) Project Dragonfly is the first conceptual design study that assesses the feasibility of a laser-propelled interstellar probe, conducted by the Initiative for Interstellar Studi ...

) and missions to interstellar objects (

Project Lyra Project Lyra is a feasibility study of a mission to interstellar objects such as ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov, initiated on 30 October 2017 by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is). In January 2022, researchers proposed that a spacecraft l ...

). Several of its principals were involved in the

100 Year Starship The 100 Year Starship project (100YSS) was a one-year joint U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) effort "to take the first step in the next era of space exploration—a jour ...

winning team originated by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

and

DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

. The US activities of i4is are coordinated by the Institute for Interstellar Studies, a not-for-profit registered in Tennessee, USA.

Notable projects and activities

i4is has initiated a project working on small interstellar spacecraft, propelled by a laser sail in 2013 under the name of

. Four student teams worked on concepts for such a mission in 2014 and 2015 in the context of a design competition. The design of the team from the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

, has subsequently been selected as the baseline system architecture for

Breakthrough Starshot Breakthrough Starshot is a research and engineering project by the Breakthrough Initiatives to develop a Proof of concept, proof-of-concept fleet of light sail interstellar probes named ''Starchip'', to be capable of making the journey to the A ...

. A subsequent study, Project Andromeda, has provided input to

prior to its announcement in 2016.

: In November 2017, i4is launched

and proposed a set of mission concepts for reaching the interstellar objects 1I/ʻOumuamua,

2I/Borisov 2I/Borisov, originally designated C/2019 Q4 (Borisov), is the first observed rogue comet and the second observed interstellar interloper after ʻOumuamua. It was discovered by the Crimean amateur astronomer and telescope maker Gennadiy Borisov ...

, and yet to be discovered objects. The project has been featured in numerous media outlets. World Ships: Stanford Torus-based generation ship

i4is has published on world ships, large interstellar

generation ship A generation ship, or generation starship, is a hypothetical type of interstellar ark starship that travels at sub-light speed. Since such a ship might require hundreds to thousands of years to reach nearby stars, the original occupants of a gene ...

s and has presented its results at the

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

Interstellar Workshop in 2019 as well as in

's Acta Futura journal. Several of its core team members have previously worked on Icarus Interstellar's Project Hyperion. Venus astrobiology mission: Subsequent to the alleged discovery of

phosphine Phosphine (IUPAC name: phosphane) is a colorless, flammable, highly toxic compound with the chemical formula , classed as a pnictogen hydride. Pure phosphine is odorless, but technical grade samples have a highly unpleasant odor like rotting ...

in the

Venusian atmosphere The atmosphere of Venus is the layer of gases surrounding Venus. It is composed primarily of Supercritical carbon dioxide, supercritical carbon dioxide and is much denser and hotter than atmosphere of Earth, that of Earth. The temperature at the ...

in 2020, i4is published a study on a dedicated astrobiology mission, based on a fleet of balloons to probe the Venusian atmosphere. Principium: The i4is publishes a quarterly newsletter, Principium.

Prominent figures

The i4is has a number of internationally renowned academics and engineers who have oversight and involvement with its work - * Freeman Dyson FRS, theoretical physicist and mathematician,

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

was a member of th
Advisory Council of the i4is
*

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

, Managing Director of

Reaction Engines Limited Reaction Engines Limited is a British aerospace manufacturer based in Oxfordshire, England. History and personnel In , Reaction Engines was founded by Alan Bond (engineer), Alan Bond (lead engineer on the British Interplanetary Society's Proj ...

, is a consultant to i4is. * Dr Ian Crawford, Professor of

Planetary Science Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...

and

Astrobiology Astrobiology, and the related field of exobiology, is an interdisciplinary scientific field that studies the origins, early evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology is the multidisciplinary field that investig ...

at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences,

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public university, public research university, located in Bloomsbury, London, England, and a constituent college, member institution of the federal Universit ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

is a member of th
Advisory Council of the i4is
* Gregory L. Matloff, professor

New York City College of Technology The New York City College of Technology (City Tech) is a public college in New York City. Founded in 1946, it is the City University of New York's college of technology. History City Tech was founded in 1946 as The New York State Institute of ...

is Chair of the Advisory Council of the i4is.

References

External links

British Interplanetary Society website

Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201174958/http://www.jbis.org.uk/ , date=2018-12-01
International Space University

20 minutes talk by Chris Welch about The Institute for Interstellar Studies
during

SpaceUp SpaceUp is an open-attendance space exploration unconference, where participants decide the topics, schedule, and structure of the event. SpaceUps have been held on both West and East coasts, and in Houston. Common features of SpaceUps are an unconf ...

Stuttgart 2012 (

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Video) Organizations established in 2012 Space advocacy organizations Space organizations Interstellar travel 2012 establishments in the United Kingdom