Abbreviation | i4is |
---|---|
Formation | 2012 |
Founders | Kelvin F. Long, Rob Swinney |
Legal status | Incorporated in the UK as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee |
Purpose | To conduct activities or research relating to the challenges of achieving robotic and human interstellar flight. |
Location | |
Region served | World |
Membership | Astronautical engineers Astrophysicists |
Executive Director | Andreas M. Hein |
Main organ | Principium |
Website | www.i4is.org |
Remarks | See also the i4is blog |
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. [1] It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes ( Project Dragonfly) and missions to interstellar objects ( Project Lyra). Several of its principals were involved in the 100 Year Starship winning team originated by NASA and DARPA. [2]
The US activities of i4is are coordinated by the Institute for Interstellar Studies, a not-for-profit registered in Tennessee, USA.
i4is has initiated a project working on small interstellar spacecraft, propelled by a laser sail in 2013 under the name of Project Dragonfly. [3] [4] Four student teams worked on concepts for such a mission in 2014 and 2015 in the context of a design competition. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The design of the team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, has subsequently been selected as the baseline system architecture for Breakthrough Starshot. A subsequent study, Project Andromeda, has provided input to Breakthrough Starshot prior to its announcement in 2016. [10] [11] [12]
Project Lyra: In November 2017, i4is launched Project Lyra and proposed a set of mission concepts for reaching the interstellar objects 1I/ʻOumuamua, 2I/Borisov, and yet to be discovered objects. [13] [14] [15] [16] The project has been featured in numerous media outlets. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
World Ships:
i4is has published on world ships, large interstellar generation ships and has presented its results at the ESA Interstellar Workshop in 2019 as well as in ESA's Acta Futura journal. [24] [25] [26] 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 in the Venusian atmosphere in 2020, i4is published a study on a dedicated astrobiology mission, based on a fleet of balloons to probe the Venusian atmosphere. [27] [28]
Principium: The i4is publishes a quarterly newsletter, Principium. [29]
The i4is has a number of internationally renowned academics and engineers who have oversight and involvement with its work -
Abbreviation | i4is |
---|---|
Formation | 2012 |
Founders | Kelvin F. Long, Rob Swinney |
Legal status | Incorporated in the UK as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee |
Purpose | To conduct activities or research relating to the challenges of achieving robotic and human interstellar flight. |
Location | |
Region served | World |
Membership | Astronautical engineers Astrophysicists |
Executive Director | Andreas M. Hein |
Main organ | Principium |
Website | www.i4is.org |
Remarks | See also the i4is blog |
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. [1] It pioneered small-scale laser sail interstellar probes ( Project Dragonfly) and missions to interstellar objects ( Project Lyra). Several of its principals were involved in the 100 Year Starship winning team originated by NASA and DARPA. [2]
The US activities of i4is are coordinated by the Institute for Interstellar Studies, a not-for-profit registered in Tennessee, USA.
i4is has initiated a project working on small interstellar spacecraft, propelled by a laser sail in 2013 under the name of Project Dragonfly. [3] [4] Four student teams worked on concepts for such a mission in 2014 and 2015 in the context of a design competition. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] The design of the team from the University of California, Santa Barbara, has subsequently been selected as the baseline system architecture for Breakthrough Starshot. A subsequent study, Project Andromeda, has provided input to Breakthrough Starshot prior to its announcement in 2016. [10] [11] [12]
Project Lyra: In November 2017, i4is launched Project Lyra and proposed a set of mission concepts for reaching the interstellar objects 1I/ʻOumuamua, 2I/Borisov, and yet to be discovered objects. [13] [14] [15] [16] The project has been featured in numerous media outlets. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
World Ships:
i4is has published on world ships, large interstellar generation ships and has presented its results at the ESA Interstellar Workshop in 2019 as well as in ESA's Acta Futura journal. [24] [25] [26] 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 in the Venusian atmosphere in 2020, i4is published a study on a dedicated astrobiology mission, based on a fleet of balloons to probe the Venusian atmosphere. [27] [28]
Principium: The i4is publishes a quarterly newsletter, Principium. [29]
The i4is has a number of internationally renowned academics and engineers who have oversight and involvement with its work -