On January 8, 2025, scientists from the Breakthrough Starshot initiative and the Tau Zero Foundation announced their plans to develop interstellar probes capable of reaching Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system to Earth, located over 4 light-years away.
Currently, NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft are the only human-made objects to have left the Solar System, achieving this milestone in 2012 and 2018, respectively. However, these aging probes rely on decades-old technology and are nearing the end of their operational lives.
The research teams are investigating advanced propulsion methods, including relativistic electron beams, to propel spacecraft to distant stars. Breakthrough Starshot is focusing on a small craft equipped with large solar sails that could be propelled by light beams. However, the limited size of this craft raises concerns about its ability to gather significant scientific data.
Alternative designs under consideration include larger spacecraft, comparable in size to the Voyager probes but equipped with more advanced instruments. The theoretical calculations suggest that an interstellar probe could achieve speeds of approximately 10% of the speed of light, allowing it to reach Alpha Centauri in just over 40 years.
Despite these promising concepts, numerous scientific challenges remain, and the project is still in the exploratory phase. The ambitious goal of sending a probe to another star system continues to inspire researchers, although practical implementation may still be far off.