Project Dragonfly (space study)

Project Dragonfly is the first conceptual design study that assesses the feasibility of a laser-propelled interstellar probe, conducted by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies.[1][2] Contrary to past unmanned interstellar mission studies such as Project Daedalus and Project Icarus the focus is particularly on a small spacecraft.[2] The project was founded in 2013 by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is).[3] A subsequent design competition was launched in 2014. The objective was to design a spacecraft that is capable of reaching Alpha Centauri within 100 years using existing or near-term technologies and a beam power below 100 GW.[3] Four teams presented their designs at the final workshop at the British Interplanetary Society in London in July 2015.[4] The teams consisted of students from Cairo University, Cranfield University, the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Paul Sabatier University, Technical University of Munich, and University of California, Santa Barbara.[4][3] The team of the Technical University of Munich won the competition. The design of the University of California, San Diego has subsequently evolved into the design for Breakthrough Starshot of the Breakthrough Initiatives.[5] Results of the competition have subsequently been published in peer-reviewed journals.[6][7][8][9] The competition has been accompanied by a Kickstarter campaign that was supported by notable space artists such as David A. Hardy.[10]

See also

References
  1. Leonard David, "Pushing the Boundaries: Initiative for Interstellar Studies"
  2. Next Big Future, "Project Dragonfly is competition to design interstellar laser sail probes that would be technological feasible by 2034 and launched by 2050"
  3. Andreas Hein, "Project Dragonfly – Sail to the Stars"
  4. British Interplanetary Society, "Project Dragonfly – i4is Student Laser-Sail Design Competition Workshop"
  5. Lubin, P. (2016). A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight. arXiv preprint arXiv:1604.01356.
  6. Nikolaos Perakis, Lukas E. Schrenk, Johannes Gutsmiedl, Artur Koop, Martin J. Losekamm (2016), "Project Dragonfly: A feasibility study of interstellar travel using laser-powered light sail propulsion", Acta Astronautica, 129, 316-324
  7. Nikolaos Perakis, Andreas M. Hein (2016). "Combining Magnetic and Electric Sails for Interstellar Deceleration", Acta Astronautica, 128, 13–20
  8. Philip Lubin (2016). "A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight", JBIS Vol 69 No 02-03
  9. Häfner, T., Kushwaha, M., Celik, O., & Bellizzi, F. (2018). Project Dragonfly: Sail to the stars. Acta Astronautica.
  10. Solar Sail Wiki, "Project Dragonfly on Kickstarter"
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