NEW AND REVOLUTIONARY PROPULSION SYSTEMS ARE NEEDED TO UNDERTAKE CHALLENGING LONG-DISTANCE MISSIONS SUCH AS TO THE KUIPER BELT OORT CLOUD AND NEARBY STELLAR SYSTEMS. WE PROPOSE AN INNOVATIVE BEAMED PROPULSION ARCHITECTURE THAT WOULD ENABLE INTERSTELLAR MISSIONS TO PROXIMA CENTAURI B AT NEARLY 10% THE SPEED OF LIGHT. THIS ARCHITECTURE DRAMATICALLY INCREASES THE DISTANCE OVER WHICH THE SPACECRAFT IS ACCELERATED WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY REDUCING THE BEAM DIAMETER AT THE TRANSMITTER AND PROBE FROM 10 S OF KILOMETERS TO LESS THAN 10 METERS. THESE ATTRIBUTES TRANSLATE INTO A MORE COMPACT SYSTEM AND INCREASED PAYLOAD MASS COMPARED WITH LASER PROPULSION ALONE ENABLING SCIENCE MISSIONS THAT ARE NOT CURRENTLY FEASIBLE.

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators