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

i4is at Breakthrough Discuss

Our President Kelvin Long and Elena Ancona have participated in the Breakthrough Discuss panel on Progress in Novel Space Propulsion. More information about Breakthrough Discuss 2018 under this link. The video recording of the panel can be found here.  

Worlds First Interstellar Summer School Announced

Have you ever wanted to know how to design spacecraft and starships? Would you like to get access to the latest information on technology developments relevant to advanced space propulsion, artificial intelligence and astronomy? Would you like to understand what the implications for going interstellar are for the outer space treaty? Now is your chance […]

Principium 20 now released!

The latest issue of our free interstellar magazine Principium is now out! This time, we present Project Lyra, a feasibility study for a mission to the interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua. The amazing cover painting was made by our concept artist Efflam Mercier, showing an astronaut bouncing off the surface of an interstellar asteroid flying past the […]

Project Lyra page online!

We are making rapid advances with Project Lyra, a mission to the interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua! Please visit our new Project Lyra website and have a look at the project, publications, and news coverage! More recently, concept artist Maciej Rebisz has created this wonderful image of Project Lyra laser sail spacecraft flying past ‘Oumuamua! How would […]

‘Oumuamua Interstellar

            Members of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies recently made a short film discussing the interstellar asteroid ‘Oumuamua. The asteroid has delighted the astronomical community recently with its brief entrance into our Solar System with an eccentricity of 1.2 and an inbound velocity of 26.3 km/s. The asteroid is likely […]

Pete Worden visits i4is HQ

On Monday 20th November Dr Pete Worden visited the Initiative for Interstellar Studies Headquarters. Dr Worden is a former Brig.Gen USAF Retired and also former Director of NASA’s Ames Research Centre. He is currently the Executive Director of the Breakthrough Initiatives. Dr Worden met with members of the i4is team to discuss Project Starshot, an effort […]

i4is announces Project Lyra: A mission to A/2017 U1, the interstellar asteroid!

i4is is happy to announce a new project: Project Lyra. Lyra is the star constellation from which the interstellar asteroid  A/2017 U1 came from. According to current information, the object is smaller than 400m  in diameter and is currently travelling at 44km/s with respect to the sun, much faster than any human-made object to date. What […]

Opening of New i4is Headquarters

On Sunday the 8th October 2017 the Initiative for Interstellar Studies officially opened the ‘interstellar space’ of its new HQ. The event was attended by 77 people, which included 18 children. Also in attendance was the President of the British Interplanetary Society Mark Hempsell, The Executive Secretary of the British Interplanetary Society Gill Norman and […]

Annual General Meeting of the I4IS

On the 7th October 2017 the Initiative for Interstellar Studies held its Annual General Meeting, chaired by Andreas Hein. Attended physically by ten members of the i4is team and with some remotely logging in, it allowed the team to test out its brand new 4,000 Lumens projector and 3 m wide projector screen, which all […]

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

Since 2015 we have been producing our own academic education journal titled 'Axiom'. The journal aims 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 ObservatoryNebula Sciences UK SEDS Breakthrough Initiatives Technical University Munich Bristol Spaceplanes