Catching 3I/ATLAS Using a Solar OberthThree of our regular contributors Adam Hibberd (i4is, London), T. Marshall Eubanks (Space Initiatives Inc, USA) and Andreas Hein (i4is Exec Director and University of Luxembourg) have co-authored this 3I/ATLAS paper, https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.02533. The third interstellar object to be discovered, 3I/ATLAS, has a unique and continually unfolding story to tell of […]
Blog
A Challenge for OITS
Adam Hibberd I was recently asked by a US colleague to do a little research using ‘OITS’. For those of you unaware by now, ‘OITS’ stands for ‘Optimum Interplanetary Trajectory Software’ and is a powerful tool I developed single-handedly for studying the problem of sending spacecraft on heliocentric trajectories to a planet or for that […]
3I/ATLAS: Is It Worth a Solar Oberth?
Adam Hibberd Have you noticed, 3I/ATLAS is well and truly on its way out of the Solar System? It has afterall passed through its closest approach to the Sun (perihelion) and is well on its way to a close encounter with Jupiter in mid-March – given this, it would seem to be the ideal moment […]
Members Newsletter – December
Intercepting Interstellar Objects A recent paper by Colin Snodgrass (University of Edinburgh, UK) et al (https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.00492) describes how the ESA Comet Interceptor mission, which is due to launch in 2028/29 to a yet-to-be-discovered target, can provide a conceptual basis for a future mission to visit an Interstellar Object. Comet Interceptor will wait in space until […]
The SpaceX Starship and Catching an Interstellar Object
Adam Hibberd On the request of a colleague, I have solved the problem of exploiting the powerful SpaceX Starship (in fact the yet to be launched Block 3 variant) to lift a spacecraft so that it can catch up with 1I/’Oumuamua, the now rapidly receding ‘interstellar object’. This object sped through the inner group of […]
Members Newsletter – November
News from i4isThe AGM of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies will be held virtually at 14:00 GMT on Saturday 13th December 2025 via Zoom, followed by a virtual social event. Please email andreas.hein@i4is.org if you wish to attend. Estimating The Number of Intelligent Extraterrestrial CivilizationsHristo Delev (MPHAC “Uni Hospital”, Bulgaria) and Todorka L. Dimitrova (University […]
Principium 51
Principium 51 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
3I/ATLAS in Plane Language.
Adam Hibberd I have had many queries concerning the calculation of the likelihood of 3I/ATLAS’s orbital plane lying within 5° of that of the ecliptic of the Solar System. This calculation appears in the paper ‘Is the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Alien Technology?’ which can be found here. The calculation exploits a simple equation based on […]