Project Dragonfly is the first conceptual design study that assesses the feasibility of a laser-propelled interstellar probe, conducted by the

Initiative for Interstellar Studies 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 Dra ...

.Leonard David, "Pushing the Boundaries: Initiative for Interstellar Studies

/ref>Next Big Future, "Project Dragonfly is competition to design interstellar laser sail probes that would be technological feasible by 2034 and launched by 2050

/ref> Contrary to past unmanned interstellar travel, interstellar mission studies such as

Project Daedalus Project Daedalus (named after Daedalus, the Greek mythological designer who crafted wings for human flight) was a study conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible uncrewed interstellar probe.Pro ...

and Project Icarus, the focus is particularly on a small spacecraft. The project was founded in 2013 by the

(i4is). A subsequent design competition was launched in 2014. The objective was to design a spacecraft that is capable of reaching

Alpha Centauri Alpha Centauri ( Latinized from α Centauri and often abbreviated Alpha Cen or α Cen) is a triple star system in the constellation of Centaurus. It consists of 3 stars: Alpha Centauri A (officially Rigil Kentaurus), Alpha Centau ...

within 100 years using existing or near-term technologies and a beam power below . Four teams presented their designs at the final workshop at the British Interplanetary Society in London in July 2015. The teams consisted of students from

Cairo University Cairo University ( ar, جامعة القاهرة, Jāmi‘a al-Qāhira), also known as the Egyptian University from 1908 to 1940, and King Fuad I University and Fu'ād al-Awwal University from 1940 to 1952, is Egypt's premier public university ...

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a British postgraduate public university, public research university specialising in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Through the 19 ...

, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology,

Texas A and M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M Unive ...

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; german: Technische Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Establis ...

, and

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the ...

.British Interplanetary Society, "Project Dragonfly – i4is Student Laser-Sail Design Competition Workshop

/ref> The team of the WARR_(TUM), WARR of the

won the competition. The design of the

has subsequently evolved into the design for

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

of the

Breakthrough Initiatives Breakthrough Initiatives is a science-based program founded in 2015 and funded by Julia and Yuri Milner, also of Breakthrough Prize, to search for extraterrestrial intelligence over a span of at least 10 years. The program is divided into multipl ...

. Results of the competition have subsequently been published in peer-reviewed journals. The competition has been accompanied by a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, K ...

campaign that was supported by notable space artists such as

David A. Hardy David A. Hardy (born 10 April 1936) is a British space artist. Early life David Hardy was born 10. April 1936 in Bournville, UK. He studied at the Margaret Street College of Art in Birmingham, and was soon painting for the British Interplanetar ...

.Solar Sail Wiki, "Project Dragonfly on Kickstarter"
/ref>

References

Interstellar travel Hypothetical spacecraft {{Space-stub

See also

References