Initiative for Interstellar Studies

Working towards the achievement of interstellar flight through knowledge to the stars - Starships in our lifetime

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Initiative for Interstellar Studies

Working towards the achievement of interstellar flight through knowledge to the stars — Starships in our lifetime.

Initiative for Interstellar Studies

Your Gateway to Interstellar Studies

If you are interested in travel to world's beyond our own, to other star systems, and the discovery of new knowledge and life, you have come to the right place. The 20th Century was the time for the planets. The 21st Century is the time for the stars. This is the portal to the Cosmos.

Sustainability

The Sustainability and Development Committee, has the purpose of seeking space-based technological solutions to solving problems on Earth and in space, human made or environmental, and improving the human condition and harmonising cultural relations. Read more » about Sustainability

Technical

The Technical Research Committee conducts innovative theoretical and experimental research and development across the broad spectrum of issues relating to interstellar studies, associated sciences and the arts. Read more » about Technical

Space Enthusiasts Invited to Join i4is for a Journey to the Stars!

The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) has today (7 December) taken another exciting step on its mission to promote robotic and human exploration and colonisation beyond the solar system, by launching a membership scheme intended to build an active community of space enthusiasts whose sights are set firmly on the stars.

What is Oumuamua? The Loeb/Bialy Conjecture and i4is Project Lyra

Principium editor John Davies offers a personal view of the continuing mystery of the interstellar object Oumuamua. More than one year since its discovery we still do not know what this object is. Here John summarises analysis so far and suggests that a mission to Oumuamua may be our only way of solving the mystery.  […]

Implications of the Gaia Mission for Future Interstellar Travel

In this article, Dr Phil Sutton, Lecturer in Astrophysics, University of Lincoln, UK, discusses how the Gaia astrometry mission creates our first full “map of the neighbourhood”. This data has immediate supporting value for all astronomical investigation but also has both cosmological and astronautical significance as we begin to contemplate missions to the near stars.  […]

Principium

Principium is the community magazine of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. It features educational articles, accessible technical articles and news from the interstellar community and the wider world of space exploration. It presents an inspiring vision of the future humankind - if we work … Principium » about Principium

Axiom

In 2015 and 2016 we produced three issues of our own academic education journal titled 'Axiom'. These issues aim to question existing paradigms of thought or basic assumptions of knowledge and therefore facilitate new enquiries of thought. The papers published vary from discussions on anthropological interactions among cultures, to the nature of intelligence in the Cosmos. Axiom » about Axiom

Starship Engineer

The Starship Engineer course is our collective brand name for a set of education courses that we run. These courses are designed to teach participants the basics of spacecraft starship engineering. Typically this includes a team workshop exercise where the attendees complete a technical design solution challenge before presenting their solution to each other. Starship Engineer » about Starship Engineer

Laser Sail Propulsion

The Initiative for Interstellar Studies are not just focussed on theoretical discussions about interstellar flight. We are also planning ground demonstrations of critical technologies and even a low Earth orbit (LEO) space mission demonstrator. Technical programmes Project Dragonfly and Project Glowworm are investigating laser sail propulsion technology to make humanity a space fairing species. Project Glowworm » about Project Glowworm

British Interplanetary Society International Space University Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop Simon Bowden Sci-fi London Stellar Engines CSR Tamke-Allen Observatory UK SEDS Breakthrough Initiatives Technical University Munich Bristol Spaceplanes