Principium 51 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
News from the Initiative for Interstellar Studies
In this section you can read some of the latest news from i4is and the world of interstellar studies. If you know of appropriate news please get in touch and it might appear here.
Principium 50
Principium 50 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
Project Hyperion – Winners Announced
London, UK – 23 July 2025 — The UK-based not-for-profit company Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is delighted to reveal the winners of the Project Hyperion Design Competition, a landmark global challenge that called upon interdisciplinary teams to envision a generation ship—a crewed interstellar spacecraft designed for a 250-year journey to a habitable planet. The […]
Principium 49
Principium 49 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
Principium 48
Principium 48 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
Principium 47
Principium 47 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
Principium 46
Principium 46 has gone out to subscribers and is now accessible to all.
Errors in Velocity Due to an Interstellar Probe’s Fast Encounter with a Star
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 […]
Principium 45
The May 2024 Issue
i4is – BBC Sky at Night Feature
Great to see that our research has been featured in the well-known BBC Sky at Night Magazine: “Spacecraft powered by light sails and lasers offer a quicker way to explore the Solar System. But there’s a catch.” Check it out here! Congrats to Manasvi Lingam, Adam Hibberd, and Andreas Hein! (Image credit: BBC)
Astronomy Magazine Cover Feature: Project Lyra
Project Lyra is the cover feature of the bestselling astronomy magazine in the world! Check out the 10-page article of the June 2024 issue of Astronomy with a lot of great artwork based on the work by the Project Lyra team and beautifully executed by Maciej Rebisz. Get a digital copy here or a physical […]
Swarming Proxima: i4is wins NASA NIAC Grant
In collaboration with Space Initiatives Inc., we have succeeded in securing a prestigious NIAC grant. “Thomas Eubanks, Space Initiatives Inc. in Florida, believes a swarm of tiny spacecraft could travel to Proxima Centauri this century, sending back data about the Sun’s nearest interstellar neighbor using a novel laser sailcraft and laser communications.” More information here.