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You are here: Home / Publications / Principium

Principium

Principium is the community magazine of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies and the Institute for Interstellar Studies (USA). 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 hard to achieve it.

Principium is a quarterly free publication of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies. You can download copies of all issues below. Here's the latest! Members of i4is can access select articles from upcoming issues of Principium before they are made publicly available.

We hope you enjoy reading our magazine.

John I Davies & Patrick J Mahon, Editors, Principium

Subscribe to Principium

To sign up for notifications when new issues are released please fill in the form below. This is the only information we retain. See below for our GDPR notice -




 
 

GDPR notice

EU citizens and others will have received numerous messages about the new general data protection regulation (GDPR) coming into force, EU-wide, on 25 May. We hold only your name and email address. We keep this information confidential and use it for no other purpose than announcing publication of Principium and very occasional news about i4is.
We therefore believe that we "use people’s data in ways they would reasonably expect and which have a minimal privacy impact" (see ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/legitimate-interests)
And that thus the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) concept of "Legitimate interests" applies. We therefore do not intend to require you to opt in again to our email list. You can always opt out via the link in the Principium MailChimp email announcement or by simply emailing info@i4is.org. Please comment on this if you would like to and, of course, please do not hesitate contacting us if you have legal expertise which could assist a small organisation like i4is.


Principium Issues

Issue 49 | June 2025

Principium 49  – Contents
Novel Technosignatures
Aerographite: A Candidate Material for Interstellar Photon Sailing
The Interstellar Coracle at the NIAC Symposium in Pasadena
Interstellar News
Breakthrough Discuss 2025
IAC24-The Interstellar Presentations Part 3
The Journals
Become a member
Members page
Next issue
Cover images

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Issue 48 | February 2025

PRINCIPIUM 48

Editorial

Building Our Home Among the Stars – A Report from the First European Interstellar Symposium

Can Wormholes be an Answer to the Ansible Problem?

International Astronautical Congress IAC24 The Interstellar Presentations Part 2

Interstellar News

Next Issue

The i4is Members’ Page

The Journals

Members page

Become an i4is member

Next issue

Cover images

Download Issue 48 View Announcement


Issue 47 | November 2024

P47 frin cover

Principium 47

Click on the highlighted items to see individual sections

Editorial

FROM THE Editorial
After 10 years and 41 issues John Davies will be stepping down as Editor after the 50th issue, August 2025. He will be working with Deputy Editor Patrick Mahon and the i4is Board of Directors over the next three months to appoint a successor and a broader team, sharing responsibilities for the magazine, in time for a transition period. Please get in touch with either of us if you would like to be part of the Principium team
John I Davies, Editor, john.davies@i4is.org

Patrick Mahon, Deputy Editor, patrick.mahon@i4is.org

LEAD FEATURE- Pringles is a Verb: Fabrication and Exhibition of “the Big Object” at WorldCon 82 in Glasgow

FEATURES

Glasgow 24 SF WorldCon: What we did at the Con

i4is’ Science Fiction Anthology and Book Club

Project Hyperion

Rise of the Serpent-God: The Apocalypse Plot

NEWS FEATURES

International Astronautical Congress IAC24: The Interstellar Presentations Part 1

Report from the Space Propulsion Conference 2024 Glasgow, 20-23 May 2024

The Wow! Signal – explained? : A review of Arecibo Wow! I: An Astrophysical Explanation for the Wow! Signal

First European Interstellar Symposium: The Abstracts

The Journals

 

INTERSTELLAR NEWS

 

REGULARS

Latest i4is poster: as featured in Astronomy Now magazine

Working with i4is – Volunteer Poster: Working towards the real Final Frontier

Membership poster – black

Membership poster – white

Become an i4is member

The i4is members’ page

Next Issue

Cover Images

 

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Issue 46 | August 2024

P46 is here!
https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Principium46-2408260749comp.pdf
LEAD FEATURE
An Improbable Pursuit: Introduction to the Current Thinking on Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel
FEATURES
Launching politics into outer space – A review of The Terrestrial Trap: International Relations beyond Earth
The Cosmic Challenge: Why Quantum Entanglement Won’t Deliver The Ansible
Long Life and the Longest Journey: Musings on life extension for world ship missions
NEWS FEATURES
International Astronautical Congress IAC24: The Interstellar Presentations
Project Lyra Update: Starships and Swarms
Breakthrough Discuss 2024: What was discussed and what was not
The Journals

INTERSTELLAR NEWS

REGULARS
Become an i4is member
Cover Images

Comments on i4is and all matters interstellar are always welcome. Write to us –
John I Davies, Editor, Principium
john.davies@i4is.org
Patrick J Mahon, Deputy Editor, Principium
patrick.mahon@i4is.org
Keep in touch!

Back issues of Principium, from number one, can be found
at www.i4is.org/Publications/Principium.

Download Issue 46 View Announcement


Issue 45 | May 2024

Principium 45

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

Contents – click link to access each article individually-

LEAD FEATURE: book review, Les Johnson’s A Traveler’s Guide to the Stars.

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/BOOK-REVIEW-A-Travelers-Guide-to-the-Stars-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

Book Review: Contact with Extraterrestrial Intelligence and Human Law

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Book-Review-Contact-with-ExtraterrestrialPrincipium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

 

NEWS FEATURES:

Glasgow 24 SF Worldcon An i4is update

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Glasgow-24-SF-Worldcon-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

Royal Institution April 2024 – Our fifth Skateboards to Starships workshop

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Royal-Institution-April-2024-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

Biological intelligence vs AI – and the Fermi Paradox

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Biological-intelligence-vs-AI-and-the-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

The Journals

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-Journals-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

– and 12 pages of INTERSTELLAR NEWS

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/interstellar-news-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

Next Issue

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/next-issue-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

 

Members Page

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/the-i4is-members-page-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

 

Become an i4is member

https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/become-an-i4is-member-Principium45-2405171117-comp.pdf

 

 

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Issue 44 | February 2024

LEAD FEATURE Hazards of Interstellar Propulsion

NEWS FEATURES The First European Interstellar Symposium, IRG 23: ‘Metropolis’ Revisited… and Coming, NASA NIAC funds swarming study, The 2024 World Science Fiction Convention – Glasgow, IRG23: The Ultimate Rocket the Ultimate Energy Source and their Use in the Ultimate Future, Define Artificial General Intelligence!, SETI Institute announces Breakthrough Listen funding, IAC 2023: The Interstellar Presentations. Part 2, The Journals
– and 5 pages of –
INTERSTELLAR NEWS Principium will have a News Editor, Sail Trajectories to Proxima b, We’re all doomed!, On the first probe between two interstellar civilisations, Photovoltaic Onboard Power for Interstellar, Selection of News from our Members’ Newsletter, Plenty of room at the bottom, Matter/Anti-Matter Propulsion

REGULARS: Become an i4is member, the i4is members’ page, Next Issue, Cover Images

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Issue 43 | November 2023

The November 2023 issue of Principium is now available and has already gone out to subscribers.

LEAD FEATURE
IRG23: The Summaries

FEATURE
Natural Geo-engineering of the early Earth

NEWS FEATURES – IRG 23
X-ray and γ-ray Beam Interstellar Communication and Implications for SETI, Applications and Design Guidelines for High Power Lasers in Space Exploration, Silence is Golden: SETI and the Fermi Paradox, Infrastructure Development Leading to the First Long-Duration Interstellar Probe, The Linguistics of Arrival: Universal Grammar and Interstellar Communication, The Promise of Beamed Energy for Spacecraft Propulsion, Constraints on Interstellar Sovereignty – a summary, Vanquishing Dark Skies The role of national space forces in security, safety, and prosperity through space exploration
OTHER NEWS FEATURES
i4is at the Royal Institution 2023 – our fourth year, IAC 2023: The Interstellar Presentations. Part 1, BIS Symposium brings Project Icarus to a close, Interstellar Studies – Inspiring the next generation, The Journals

  • and 17 pages of INTERSTELLAR NEWS

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Issue 42 | August 2023

LEAD FEATURES
Two IRG23 REPORTS – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IRG23-reports-Principium42-2308271041opt.pdf
IRG23 – The First Two Days
On Lasers and Lagrange Points- 8th Interstellar Symposium

NEWS FEATURES
Interstellar flyby scientific data downlink design – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Interstellar-flyby-scientific-data-downlink-design-Principium42-2308271041opt.pdf
Project Icarus revisited – 30 September – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/News-Feature-Project-Icarus-revisited-30-September-Principium42-2308271041opt.pdf
IAC 2023 – The Interstellar Presentations – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/IAC-2023-The-Interstellar-Presentations-Principium42-2308271041opt.pdf
The Journals – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/The-Journals-Principium42-2308271041opt.pdf

INTERSTELLAR NEWS – https://i4is.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/interstellar-news-Principium42-2308281223opt.pdf

REGULARS
Become an i4is member  The i4is members’ page  Membership poster-black  Membership poster-white  Next issue  Cover images

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Issue 41 | May 2023

FEATURES
BOOK REVIEW: Astrotopia: Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race
Project Lyra: What SpaceX could do

NEWS FEATURES
IRG23 Preview
Rob Swinney at the Royal Aeronautical Society
i4is delivers Communications Study to Breakthrough Starshot
Cost-Optimal System Performance Maps for Laser-Accelerated Sailcraft
The Journals
12 pages of Interstellar News

REGULARS:
Become an i4is member
The i4is members’ page
Next issue

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Issue 40 | February 2023

FEATURES
Searching for Alien Messages to a Nearby Star
The Mariner 2 Model

NEWS FEATURES
IAC 2022: The Interstellar Presentations. Part 2
i4is 10th Anniversary
The Journals
14 pages of Interstellar News

REGULARS:
Become an i4is member
The i4is members’ page
Next issue

Download Issue 40 View Announcement


Issue 39 | November 2022

Principium 39 – ISSN 2397-9127 –

FEATURES
BOOK REVIEW: FREEDOM IN OUTER SPACE
‘Oumuamua: A Second Chance? A Personal Memoir
I4IS Science Fiction Anthology

NEWS FEATURES
The Third i4is Summer School at the Royal Institution
i4is 10th anniversary
News Feature: IAC 2022: The Interstellar Presentations. Part 1
Impressions of IAC22
The Journals
16 pages of Interstellar News

REGULARS:
Volunteer Poster: Working towards the real Final Frontier
Become an i4is member
The i4is members’ page
Next issue

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Issue 38 | August 2022

Principium 38- ISSN2397-9127

LEAD FEATURE Book Review: LIFE IN THE COSMOS, Andreas Hein
FEATURES: Two Equations to the Stars– Part Two: The Photon Sail Equation–John I Davies
NEWS FEATURES: IAC2022, The Journals
19 pages of INTERSTELLAR  NEWS
REGULARS: Become an i4is member, The i4ismembers’ page, Membership and Volunteer posters,  Next issue & Cover images

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Issue 37 | May 2022

LEAD FEATURE Book Review: The Alien Communication Handbook, Patrick Mahon
FEATURES: Two Equations to the Stars – Part One – John I Davies, Finding new ways to share resources in space – Max Daniels
NEWS FEATURES: The Second Interstellar Studies Summer Course, IAC 2022, Special on space debris at IAC21 – Samar AbdelFattah, The Journals
INTERSTELLAR NEWS: IAC 2022, Inflatable infrared telescope to detect water, Engineering the Oberth Manoeuvre, A Starshade to help earth-based telescopes find exoplanets, i4is in US National Academies Decadal Survey, Don’t Forget To Look Up, Philosophy and Science of Space Exploration, Avoiding the Great Filter, Researching ‘Oumuamua as an Alien Craft, More from Centauri Dreams on Laser Sails and Ramping Up the Technosignature Search, Riding a laser to Mars in 45 days, The case for space environmentalism, Studying an ISO using the Webb telescope, SETI in 2021, Non-terrestrial artefacts in the Solar System, Probability of communicating ETIs
REGULARS: Membership Poster (white), Become an i4is member, Volunteer Poster: Working towards the real Final Frontier, The i4is members’ page, Next issue & Cover images

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Issue 36 | February 2022

LEAD FEATURE The Icarus Firefly Downlink
FEATURES: Project Lyra: A Mission to 1I/’Oumuamua without Solar Oberth Manoeuvre, Design of Interplanetary Missions to Jupiter Using Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software
NEWS FEATURES: JBIS Index 2021, 72nd International Astronautical Congress 2021: The Interstellar Papers, A brief on IAC2021: Inspire, Innovate and Discover For the Benefit of Humankind, 7th Interstellar Symposium – The Hallway is More Important than the Podium…, The Journals
INTERSTELLAR NEWS: A real, albeit humble, warp bubble (continued)? ; Announcement from IRG, – See what we heard at Tucson; Free-floating planets in the Upper Scorpius, Capture of interstellar objects; Solid core thermal antimatter propulsion;, Feasibility of space solar power, Hyper-Fast Positive Energy Warp Drives; IEEE reports – A Pinch of Fusion, 100 GW beamer by coherent combination of 100 M lasers, JWST – so far so good; Interstellar communication from hypothetical alien, probes, UCSB on Economics of Interstellar Flight; Beyond Solar System – beware, Dark Matter, Trappist 1 – Gravitational Lens in 8 Years, Tailpiece: Wacky Scientists hire, wacky vicars – or not?
REGULARS: Keep An Eye On Our Facebook Page, Membership Poster (white), Become an i4is member, Volunteer Poster: Working towards the real Final Frontier, The i4is members’ page, Membership Poster (black), Next issue, Cover images.

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Issue 35 | November 2021

  • Interstellar Research Group Symposium 2021
  • International Astronautical Congress 2021: The Interstellar Papers
  • The downlink from swarming micro-probes
  • News Features
    • The journey of Bernardinelli-Bernstein
    • Loeb on an Artificial Origin for `Oumuamua
    • The Journals
  • Nine pages of Interstellar News
  • i4is Members’ Page
  • Losing Access to Space – Are we building a fence around our planet? – A personal view

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Issue 34 | August 2021

  • Optimal Strategies for Exploring Near-by Stars
  • 2014 UN 271 Spacecraft Missions
  • International Astronautical Congress 2021 – The Interstellar Papers
  • News Features
    • The Journals: JBIS and Acta Astronautica
    • Mission to 2014 UN 271 using OITS
    • Another review of Avi Loeb’s Extraterrestrial
  • 8 pages of Interstellar News
  • i4is Members’ Page

Download Issue 34 View Announcement


Issue 33 | May 2021

This issue features –

  • LEAD FEATURE: Practicalities and Difficulties of a Mission to ‘Oumuamua
  • The Self Replicating Factory: a work in progress
  • The i4is Members Page
  • Project Pinpoint: Pushing the Limits of Miniaturization
  • Become an i4is member
  • News Features:
    • The i4is Talk Series – 2020 and 2021
    • The 2021 ISU Masters Elective and Masters Projects
    • The 10 parsec sample in the Gaia era
    • i4is wins major contract in Interstellar Studies
  • Interstellar News
  • Book Review: Simone Caroti – The Generation Starship In Science Fiction
  • Book Review: Avi Loeb – Extraterrestrial: The First Sign of Intelligent Life Beyond Earth

Download Issue 33 View Announcement


Issue 32 | February 2021

This issue features –

  • AMiTe Treffpunkt — A proposal for communication between Kardashev Type IIb civilisations
  • The Artemis Accords: what comes after the Moon?
  • Worldship and self replicating systems
  • An Interstellar Visitor: sorting the fact from the speculation
  • 71st International Astronautical Congress 2020: The Interstellar Report — Part 2 of 2
  • News Feature: Starshot Downlink Webinar
  • The i4is Members Page & Become an i4is member
  • Interstellar News

Download Issue 32 View Announcement


Issue 31 | November 2020

This issue features –

  • Interstellar Objects & Sample Returns
  • International Astronautical Congress 2020
  • The Interstellar Downlink
  • Book Review: Extraterrestrial Languages — Daniel Oberhaus
  • News Features:
    • i4is Project Glowworm
    • i4is Technical Team
    • Hints of life on Venus
    • Breakthrough Starshot Communications Workshop — May 2020
    • The 2020 ISU Masters Elective Module — Part 2
  • Interstellar News
  • i4is Members Page

Download Issue 31 View Announcement


Issue 30 | August 2020

This issue features –

  • Worldship Implications of the BIS SPACE Project
  • 2020 ISU MSS Elective Module
  • i4is-supported ISU MSS Projects – Bussard Ramjet & Deceleration of Interstellar Probes
  • 71st IAC 2020 Timetable of Interstellar Papers
  • Cassidy Cobbs – Bioscientist – Part 2
  • Interstellar News
  • The Cathedral and the Starship
  • FISW2 videos and presentations
  • Educating i4is: the i4is Education Team
  • Alfred M Worden – A personal reflection

Download Issue 30 View Announcement


Issue 29 | May 2020

This issue features –

  • Cassidy Cobbs – Bioscientist
  • Interstellar News
  • The Interstellar Ram Jet at 60
  • IAC2019 the Interstellar Papers #3
  • FAST radio telescope & Breakthrough Listen
  • Rings round exoplanets – possible megastructures
  • Mariner model part 2: The initial construction phase
  • i4is Members Page
  • Freeman Dyson (1923-2020)
  • Feasibility of self-replicating probes for interstellar exploration
  • Book Review: Religions and Extraterrestrial Life

Download Issue 29 View Announcement


Issue 28 | February 2020

This issue features –

  • IAC 2019 – Second Report
  • Book Review: The Contact Paradox
  • TVIW’s 6th Interstellar Symposium
  • What do we really know about the Outer Solar System?
  • The Equation used in the Benkoski Paper – A Derivation
  • Interstellar Objects – Oumuamua, Borisov & objects in between
  • i4is Members Page & Become an i4is member
  • Interstellar News

Download Issue 28 View Announcement


Issue 27 | November 2019

This issue features –

  • On a possible future direction for optical SETI
  • IAC Oct 2019 — First Report
  • How to reach Interstellar Visitors — Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software
  • How low can you go? — The Benkowski equation
  • i4is Members Page & Become an i4is member
  • Interstellar News

Download Issue 27 View Announcement


Issue 26 | August 2019

cover Principium26

This issue features –

  • Foundations of Interstellar Studies Workshop 2019
  • The State of the Art in Fusion Propulsion – part 2
  • A Mariner 2 model
  • Interstellar News
  • News Features:
    • The Principium Team
    • Starship Congress 2019
    • ESA Interstellar Workshop
    • Apollo Poetry Competition result
    • IAC Oct 2019 – i4is team and interstellar timetable
    • ISU ChipSat Spacecraft and Mission Design elective
  • i4is Members Page & Become an i4is member

Download Issue 26 View Announcement


Issue 25 | May 2019

This issue, Our third MEMBERSHIP Edition, features –

  • The State of the Art in Fusion Propulsion
  • Overview: TVIW 2018 Symposium
  • Second Foundations of Interstellar Studies workshop
  • Extreme Deep Space Exploration
  • Competition: From Apollo to the stars!
  • Progress & activity by i4is-US 2017-2019
  • Fine Tuning Lasers: Project Dragonfly and Glowworm
  • i4is Members Page and Become an i4is member
  • Interstellar News
  • News Features:
    • Oumuamua, Project Lyra and ISOs
    • Indian Anti-Satellite test
    • All Comets Great and Small
    • IAC 2018 – Swarm Systems
    • i4is-US at annual MIT Beyond the Cradle event
    • The Membership Team

Download Issue 25 View Announcement


Issue 24 | February 2019

This issue, Our second MEMBERSHIP Edition, features –

  • Project Glowworm: Testing Laser Sail Propulsion in Low Earth Orbit
  • Amerigo: Brief Overview of a 1000 AU probe study
  • TVIW Power of Synergy Symposium
  • Project Daedalus – A Beginners’ Guide
  • Interstellar News
  • News Features –
    • Oumuamua, Project Lyra and Interstellar Objects
    • 69th International Astronautical Congress 2018
    • TVIW 2018

Download Issue 24 View Announcement


Issue 23 | November 2018

This issue, The MEMBERSHIP Edition, features –

  • Implications of the Gaia Mission for Future Interstellar Travel
  • News Feature – What is Oumuamua?
  • Book Review: The Planet Factory – Elizabeth Tasker
  • Engineering New Worlds: Goals, Motives and Results
  • Interstellar News
  • News Features:
    • 69th International Astronautical Congress 2018 – The Interstellar Papers
    • Starship Engineering – First Five Day i4is Summer School
    • Holographic Photon Sails – A Merger of Science and Art
    • The Andromeda Probe Model
    • TVIW 2018

Download Issue 23 View Announcement


Issue 22 | August 2018

This issue features –

  • To the Stars in a Century: Z-Pinch fusion & Firefly Icarus
  • IAC 2018 Bremen – interstellar & i4is
  • Breakthrough Propulsion Physics
  • Book Review: Exoplanètes
  • Interstellar News
  • News Features
    • Moon, Mars & beyond – an RI debate
    • Catching A Little Bit of Heaven
    • i4is HQ Symposium & Lecture
    • Wormholes & Time Machines
    • How far have we come?

Download Issue 22 View Announcement


Issue 21 | May 2018

Read more

This issue features –

  • “Slow down!”: How to park an interstellar rocket
  • The Orbits of Seveneves (2) – the orbits explained
  • Imagining Interstellar – Art by Efflam Mercier
  • 69th International Astronautical Congress 2018 – Papers by the i4is Team
  • BOOK REVIEWS:
    • Going Interstellar – Build Starships Now!
    • Rendezvous with Rama, a retrospective
  • NEWS FEATURES –
    • Breakthrough Discuss 2018: i4is debate novel propulsion technologies
    • PROCSIMA – Diffractionless Beamed Propulsion for Breakthrough Interstellar Missions
    • BIS report on nanosats from the UK
  • Interstellar News & Project Lyra Update

Download Issue 21 View Announcement


Issue 20 | February 2018

This issue features –

  • Project Lyra : mission to ʻOumuamua
  • Preparing for the next Interstellar Object
  • Interstellar News
  • The Orbits of Seveneves
  • Tsiolkovsky – Interstellar Pioneer
  • NEWS FEATURES
    • Work on the interstellar asteroid and i4is Project Lyra
    • Pete Worden, Breakthrough Initiatives, at i4is HQ
  • Sir Arthur C Clarke Centenary
  • Models and art at the Mill

Download Issue 20 View Announcement


Issue 19 | November 2017

This issue features –

  • ‘The Interstellar Space’ Opening of i4is HQ, 8 October 2017
  • News Feature – Glowworm Update
  • TV Programme Review – The Search for a New Earth – With Professor Stephen Hawking, BBC2, first screened 11 Sep 2017, UK
  • Interstellar Inspiration for School Students: The i4is Interstellar Challenge. How To to get started on your own Interstellar Challenge.
  • Transplutonium is not “Planet X” : Reminiscing and reality-based ruminations on the high cost of nucleosynthesis of propellants for interstellar travel.
  • Engineering New Worlds: Creating the Future – Parts 4 and 5
  • Art for Interstellar : Bringing art, technology and science together in New York

Download Issue 19 View Announcement


Issue 18 | August 2017

This issue features –

  • Aridopolis : A Sustainable Earth / Mars Desert Settlement
  • Interstellar News
  • Engineering New Worlds: Creating the Future – Part 3
  • Foundations of Interstellar Studies Workshop
  • Statement of Solidarity for The Interstellar Vision
  • Opening of the i4is HQ

Download Issue 18 View Announcement


Issue 17 | May 2017

This issue features –

  • Advanced Ion Propulsion Systems for Interstellar Precursor Probes
  • Interstellar News
  • News Feature: TRAPPIST-1
  • Is the Alcubierre Drive the answer to Interstellar Travel?
  • Album Review: Infinity of Space
  • Book Review: Starlight, Starbright: Are Stars Conscious?
  • Engineering New Worlds: Creating the Future
  • Poster Feature: Space Resource Law

Download Issue 17 View Announcement


Issue 16 | February 2017

This issue features –

  • Project Starshot
  • Interstellar News
  • Letter to the Editor : Stephen Ashworth
  • ISU Masters Degree Projects – the i4is contribution
  • Film Reviews: Arrival and Passengers
  • Book Review: Star Ark : A Living Self-sustaining Spaceship
  • Interstellar Challenge for London Schools 2016
  • Image Feature: Artificial Intelligence Probes for Interstellar Exploration and Colonization

Download Issue 16 View Announcement


Issue 15 | November 2016

This issue features –

  • Guest introduction by Nick Kanas, The Psychology and Sociology of Interstellar Travel
  • News from the Initiative
  • i4is/ISU 2016: Space Environment & Spacecraft Systems Engineering
  • Daedalus: Model and Art
  • The Andromeda Study
  • Book Review: Gypsy: Carter Scholz
  • The art and imagination of David A Hardy

Download Issue 15 View Announcement


Issue 14 | August 2016

This issue features –

  • Guest introduction by Paul Gilster
  • News from the initiative
  • Cosmos: A Personal Voyage
  • The BIS Daedalus Model – the last lap
  • The Starship Engineer Course 2015
  • Interstellar Studies at the ISU 2016

Download Issue 14 View Announcement


Issue 13 | May 2016

This issue features –

  • Guest introduction by Kieran Twaites
  • News from the initiative
  • The 1,000 Year Starship
  • Sending Ourselves to the stars? – 2
  • Photo Feature: BIS Daedalus Starship Model
  • Project Icarus: Introduction

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Issue 12 | February 2016

This issue features –

  • Guest Introduction
  • News from the initiative
  • Sending Ourselves to the Stars
  • Starship Engineer
  • Prototyping Starships
  • Dragonfly: The Way Forward
  • Film Review: Star Wars – The Force Awakens

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Issue 11 | November 2015

This issue features –

  • Stop Press: Starship Engineer Course
  • Guest Introduction: Photometric SETI
  • News: Project Dragonfly, i4is at SDSO, Axiom, Starship Congress
  • Project Dragonfly Competition
  • Interstellar Implications of the New Horizons Probe
  • Starship Congress 2015
  • TWIW 2014: i4is SF design Workshop
  • TWIW 2014: Field Report
  • What we did at Eastercon
  • Film Review: The Martian

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Issue 10 | August 2015

This issue features –

  • News, Dragonfly, Pluto and Dysprosium
  • Wormholes Come to London (2)
  • Wormholes – Stargates to the Cosmic Neighbourhood
  • i4is Goes Stratospheric
  • Icarus Interstellar: Project Voyager
  • What we did at the WorldCon (2)
  • How do we Survive on a Distant World?
  • What’s in Principium 11

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Issue 9 | May 2015

This issue features –

  • Project Dragonfly
  • Kickstarter
  • Introduction
  • Beyond the Boundary – An i4is Book
  • Educational Academy
  • Technical Research Committee
  • i4is and ISU
  • Wormholes Come to London
  • Film & Book Review “Interstellar”
  • Merchandise
  • News from the i4is
  • What we did at the WorldCon
  • What’s in Principium 10

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Issue 8 | July 2014

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Kelvin F. Long
  • News from the Initiative
  • Advances
  • Community News
  • Son of Daedalus
  • Building Daedalus
  • Book Review

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Issue 7 | December 2013

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Sarah Margree
  • News from the initiative
  • Voyager 1 Leaves the Heliosphere
  • The New Horizons Message Initiative
  • Project Icarus Workshop
  • The Alpha Centauri Prize
  • Starship Cities
  • Enzmann Starships

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Issue 6 | August 2013

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Keith Cooper
  • A Year I the Life of i4is
  • Why an initiative now?
  • The i4is Academy
  • Gravity and the Apple
  • The Origins of Future Worlds
  • The Philosophy of the Starship
  • Project Dragonfly

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Issue 5 | July 2013

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Keith Cooper
  • News from the initiative
  • Community
  • Advances
  • The Art of Music
  • Jon Lomberg’s Starship Adventures
  • Retrospective: SETI

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Issue 4 | April 2013

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Adrian Mann
  • News from the initiative
  • Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop
  • Advances – DE-STAR
  • The Starship Art of Jon Lomberg
  • Book Review

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Issue 3 | February 2013

This issue features –

  • Introduction by Gregory Matloff
  • Advances – Asteroid Propecting
  • Advances – Skylon
  • ‘Listening Post’
  • A Learning Experience
  • Retrospective: Bussard Ramjet
  • Reviews

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Issue 2 | January 2013

This issue features –

  • Letter from Rob Swinney
  • News from the initiative
  • ‘Advances’
  • Meet the Neighbours
  • Retrospective: Voyager
  • Reviews

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Issue 1 | December 2012

This issue features –

  • Letter from the Director
  • News from the initiative
  • ‘Advances’
  • CubeSats
  • Retrospective: Daedalus
  • Book Reviews

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Blog

A Precursor Mission to Proxima Centauri

31 October 2024

A Mission to Five Near Earth Objects in 2030 Adam Hibberd We at i4is, together with our collaborators on the Phase I NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) at Space Initiatives Inc., have been contemplating precursors to the ultimate mission of sending laser sails to swarm our nearest neighbouring star, Proxima Centauri. A summary of the […]

Deflecting Apophis

26 October 2024

Adam Hibberd There have been some developments. I have been addressing the problem of how to deflect Apophis from its path if it were indeed on a collision course with Earth. My Apocalypse Plot gives the magnitude of ΔV at different points in Apophis’s orbit to send it on a course to JUST strike the […]

Apophis: More Monolythical Mathematical Musings.

29 September 2024

Adam Hibberd Apophis gets awfully close on Friday April 13th 2029 (within GEO altitude). Its orbit is altered by the encounter with Earth and the obvious question is will there be any further possible encounters? Some of you may remember I have worked on the practicalities of sending laser-accelerated sails to intercept Apophis as it […]

Errors in Velocity Due to an Interstellar Probe’s Fast Encounter with a Star

23 July 2024

Adam Hibberd A spacecraft is travelling on a very hyperbolic orbit w.r.t. an object X (possibly a star) which has gravitational mass, μ, meaning the spacecraft is only slightly deflected from its direction of motion. Our task is to quantify the errors in velocity, both longitudinal and transverse, associated with this encounter compared to simply […]

‘Oumuamua: Lasers in Space

16 May 2024

Adam Hibberd In my latest research, I have been considering the case of using laser structures in space to accelerate space laser sails to sufficient speed so that they will ultimately reach the first discovered interstellar object, 1I/’Oumuamua, within a matter of years from launch, or even as soon as a year. This is clearly […]

Measurement of Mass by Space Sails

16 February 2024

Adam Hibberd I’ve been doing a little algebra. Let me state the problem. Let us say we have a swarm of space sails flying edge on to the interstellar medium (ISM). This swarm lies in a plane at right angles to its velocity relative to this ISM. Now lets bring in an element of the […]

Project Lyra Mission Guide

26 January 2024

Adam Hibberd I provide for you a chart of some missions to 1I/’Oumuamua investigated by Project Lyra. The green rows use chemical propulsion, the blue use nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) and the pink exploit laser sails. This table will be updated when new research becomes available. For more detail, zoom in with your mouse (Ctrl+scroll […]

Project Lyra: A Solar Oberth at 10 Solar Radii

5 January 2024

Adam Hibberd I have recently returned my attention to the Solar Oberth mission to ‘Oumuamua. For readers not familiar with this celestial body, 1I/’Oumuamua was the first interstellar object to be discovered passing through our Solar System, is now out of range of our most powerful telescopes and has left scientists with many questions in […]

Swarming Proxima

20 November 2023

Adam Hibberd Breakthrough Starshot is the Initative to send a probe at 20% light speed (0.2c) to the nearest neighbouring star Proxima Centauri. But how do we achieve such a high speed? It turns out that if we have an extremely powerful laser (and exponential advances in tech over the next decades will mean that […]

Laser and Sail in Earth Orbit with Evolutionary Neurocontrol

24 October 2023

Adam Hibberd In my last post I explained how my software development, Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS), seems to achieve miracles of intelligent design in a fashion analogous to evolution, though in fact with both cases evidently no intelligence is involved – instead simple mechanisms combined with iteration are at work. This concept stimulated me […]

OITS Takes on Evolution

10 September 2023

Adam Hibberd The more I think about evolution through natural selection the more I see analogues to my software development Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software. (I should make it clear at this early stage in my post that OITS does NOT employ a genetic/evolutionary algorithm approach, I shall elucidate below.) You see there is NO intent […]

How Close did ‘Oumuamua Approach Each of the Inner Planets?

2 September 2023

Adam Hibberd A view of the distance of ‘Oumuamua from each of the Inner Planets as it rounded the sun, reached perihelion and then sped away again. Mars was just about as far away as it could possibly have been from ‘Oumuamua. ‘Oumuamua came very close to Earth (around 0.16 au). It came no closer […]

Was Loeb’s Bolide Interstellar?

1 September 2023

Adam Hibberd Loeb’s interstellar spherules have caused controversy and indignation amongst experts in the science community. For those of you not-in-the-know, Loeb travelled to the site of a proposed interstellar meteor (his designation: IM1) which he had identified in a catalogue of bolides held by NASA and then discovered in the ocean tiny metallic blobs he […]

‘Oumuamua – a Sci-Fi Story or Reality?

23 August 2023

Adam Hibberd Let me tell you all a story. It is the story of life and its purpose. I ask you to bear with me here as Project Lyra and ‘Oumuamua will make an appearance eventually – I promise. Many of you will be familiar with the idea that the universe might be some kind […]

‘Oumuamua: The Mystery Unfolds

20 August 2023

Adam Hibberd Those of you who have been following my Project Lyra blogs know that I have over the past year or so done some extensive analysis of ‘Oumuamua’s trajectory. You may refer to previous posts on the i4is website to get an understanding of exactly what I have been up to, or alternatively continue […]

Psyche: OITS has Something to Say

18 August 2023

Adam Hibberd Here’s a mission to asteroid Psyche for you. Initial theories favoured Psyche as a core of a failed protoplanet, containing vast reserves of metals. More recent research, however favour alternative origin theories. Whatever is the case, we are about to discover its true nature and this would be a huge step forwards for […]

Project Lyra: Ignore the outlier and miss an opportunity

31 July 2023

Adam Hibberd Wouldn’t you like an answer to the question: What is ‘Oumuamua? There have been many theories, but there is no real consensus. The only way to answer this would be to send a spacecraft to observe ‘Oumuamua in situ but the total lack of will-power to get this question answered, in my view, […]

The Case of Fireball CNEOS 2017-10-09

28 July 2023

Adam Hibberd Around the middle of last year I read an article by Siraj and Loeb in which they analysed closely a database of bolides (which are meteor fireballs) maintained by NASA-JPL CNEOS (Center for Near Earth Object Studies). In so doing they identified at least one bolide as having an interstellar origin (designated CNEOS […]

Project Lyra: The Mission to Resolve a Mystery

4 July 2023

Adam Hibberd Project Lyra is the study of the feasibility of a spacecraft mission to the first interstellar object to be discovered passing through our Solar System, designated 1I/’Oumuamua. I have now authored and co-authored a total of nine Project Lyra papers. The considerable number of science papers (many now peer-reviewed, several still to be […]

Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software: The Secrets Revealed

25 June 2023

Adam Hibberd In the UK Spring of 2017, I derived the theory for solving interplanetary trajectories, which enabled me to develop a powerful software tool for optimising hight thrust spacecraft missions, a tool which I called Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS). For those of you fascinated by mathematics, in particular mathematical formulae, the two equations […]

Laser Sails: Trajectories Using Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software

16 June 2023

It struck me a while ago that I have developed this extremely effective tool for solving interplanetary trajectories (OITS), so how would I be able to exploit it for alternative applications – applications which would be beyond its originally intended purpose, that of designing trajectories for chemically propelled spacecraft (and in the process assuming impulsive […]

Mars Ride-Share: an Opportunity Not to be Missed

14 June 2023

Adam Hibberd I was recently discussing with my colleagues across the pond, the potential for mounting a cheap mission to some alternative, yet interesting destination in the inner Solar System, by exploiting a ‘ride-share’ with a more important mission, possibly one organised by NASA or ESA. It struck me that since there have been, and […]

C/2014 UN271 the comet which will NOT collide with the Earth

4 April 2023

Adam Hibberd An Oort cloud comet is composed primarily of dust and ice and has spent most of its life in the far-flung distant reaches of our Solar System (2,000 au to 200,000 au from our Sun). It is eventually nudged inward towards our Sun by gravitational influences such as galactic tides or some passing […]

Project Lyra: Falcon Heavy Expendable

27 March 2023

Adam Hibberd Following on from my previous blog where I studied the capability of the up-coming Ariane 6 4 launcher in terms of delivering a spacecraft on a course to intercept the first interstellar object to be discovered, ‘Oumuamua, I continue this logical progression with analysis of a more powerful launcher, the Falcon Heavy. The […]

Project Lyra: Using an Ariane 6

16 March 2023

Adam Hibberd Ariane 6 is the up-and-coming successor to the old Arianespace workhorse, Ariane 5, and may secure its maiden flight later this year. There will ultimately be two strap-on booster configurations from which to choose, one with two boosters, and the more powerful version with four. I thought it might be worthwhile assessing the […]

Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS)

15 February 2023

Adam Hibberd I started development of this software, OITS, in April 2017 on a holiday near the little town of Cheadle, in the county of Staffordshire, UK. I started from the very basics, deriving the theory during the holiday and continuing shortly thereafter, and then immersed myself in the implementation of the equations I had […]

Music of ‘Oumuamua

30 January 2023

Adam Hibberd If you have a fascination for the mysterious interstellar object ‘Oumuamua and are musically inclined, please check out these two pieces by my musician friend Robin Jax based on recordings of me playing two piano compositions of mine. Whether it be Robin’s neurodivergence, or my own schizophrenia, we have both overcome our respective […]

Things to Come

22 January 2023

Adam Hibberd I sometimes wonder at the short-sightedness of people. The sort of people who scoff and scorn at the far-sighted work which most of my work colleagues and I have dedicated a good deal of our lives to pursue, largely voluntarily. They may argue: We have such and such a problem NOW, how are […]

Project Lyra: Using Jupiter Alone to get to ‘Oumuamua

9 January 2023

Adam Hibberd Here is a ‘pork chop plot’ of missions to ‘Oumuamua using a Jupiter powered gravitational assist (or a Jupiter Oberth Manoeuvre, JOM). Refer to the Figure (1). Essentially, what we have are three coordinates where firstly the horizontal axis shows the launch date, the vertical axis shows the flight duration, and for every […]

‘Oumuamua: The State of Play

30 December 2022

Adam Hibberd In 2017, an interstellar object was discovered, the first ever to be detected. It was observed by the Hawaiian observatory Pan-STARRS, subsequently studied by many telescopes before disappearing into the distance in January 2018. An estimate on the number density, N (how many per unit volume), in interstellar space was determined based on […]

Why the Stars?

24 November 2022

Adam Hibberd November 2022 People may ask the question why we should venture beyond our solar system to explore the stars? Why should we commit precious resources to such an endeavour? I have an answer to this which may to some degree be a personal one. The question boils down to why are we curious? […]

Exploring ‘Oumuamua’s Trajectory – Further Notes

9 November 2022

Adam Hibberd November 2022 In my last blog I reported the progress of my work regarding the intriguing little conundrum of the first interstellar object (ISO) to be discovered, designated ‘Oumuamua, in particular my research into its orbit. In fact ‘Oumuamua is puzzling on many counts and I have also in a previous blog elaborated […]

Exploring ‘Oumuamua’s Perihelion Date

31 October 2022

Adam Hibberd October 2022 This blog may be a bit cheeky but do take heed of the last line before jumping to any conclusions! I’ve been mucking around with ‘Oumuamua’s orbit on my computer lately. Mucking around in the sense of playing with its orbital parameters and seeing what crops up. Those of you who […]

3I/ATLAS: What if?

17 July 2025

Adam Hibberd My paper with Adam Crowl and Avi Loeb is out today, and we have collectively been doing what scientists and philosophers have been doing since time immemorial, and that is asking questions, and exercising our imaginations in the process. In this case the question goes like this: ‘is 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar interloper […]

Missions to 3I/ATLAS

8 July 2025

Adam Hibberd The third interstellar object is causing a bit of a stir. What could it be exactly? Judging by its predicted path, we should get a ring-side view of it from Earth, except for an important viewing outage as it approaches perihelion – the closest approach to the Sun – simply because it will […]

Members Newsletter – June

29 June 2025

I4is Workshops at the Royal Institution London 7/8th AugustThe i4is education team will be once again bringing the Skateboards to Starships workshops to the Royal Institution in August. For those not familiar we show how the physics and maths of jumping off a skateboard can be used to understand how rockets work and how different […]

Principium 49

9 June 2025

Principium 49 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.

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Contact i4is

Initiative for Interstellar Studies
27/29 South Lambeth Road
London, SW8 1SZ
United Kingdom

info@i4is.org

Starship Blog

A Precursor Mission to Proxima Centauri

Deflecting Apophis

Apophis: More Monolythical Mathematical Musings.

Errors in Velocity Due to an Interstellar Probe’s Fast Encounter with a Star

‘Oumuamua: Lasers in Space

Measurement of Mass by Space Sails

Project Lyra Mission Guide

Project Lyra: A Solar Oberth at 10 Solar Radii

Swarming Proxima

Laser and Sail in Earth Orbit with Evolutionary Neurocontrol

OITS Takes on Evolution

How Close did ‘Oumuamua Approach Each of the Inner Planets?

Was Loeb’s Bolide Interstellar?

‘Oumuamua – a Sci-Fi Story or Reality?

‘Oumuamua: The Mystery Unfolds

Psyche: OITS has Something to Say

Project Lyra: Ignore the outlier and miss an opportunity

The Case of Fireball CNEOS 2017-10-09

Project Lyra: The Mission to Resolve a Mystery

Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software: The Secrets Revealed

Laser Sails: Trajectories Using Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software

Mars Ride-Share: an Opportunity Not to be Missed

C/2014 UN271 the comet which will NOT collide with the Earth

Project Lyra: Falcon Heavy Expendable

Project Lyra: Using an Ariane 6

Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software (OITS)

Music of ‘Oumuamua

Things to Come

Project Lyra: Using Jupiter Alone to get to ‘Oumuamua

‘Oumuamua: The State of Play

Why the Stars?

Exploring ‘Oumuamua’s Trajectory – Further Notes

Exploring ‘Oumuamua’s Perihelion Date

3I/ATLAS: What if?

Missions to 3I/ATLAS

Members Newsletter – June

Principium 49

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