If Space-Based Data Centers Turn Out to Be Impractical, Should We Explore the Possibility of Interstellar Travel?

The Starcloud team, a startup focused on establishing a network of GPUs in space, has unveiled an intriguing proposal to prospective investors: the launch of a small spacecraft on a remarkable 80,000-year expedition to Alpha Centauri.

Should the endeavor succeed, it would represent the first human-crafted object explicitly intended for travel to another star, making it the sixth object to escape our solar system.

This initiative, called Fermi Explorer, is managed by a non-profit organization currently in search of partners, funding, and expert advice. The founding team, made up of Starcloud co-founders Philip Johnston, Adi Oltean, and Ezra Feilden, along with project manager Garret Jameson, has formulated a plan to use existing space technology to dispatch a 1-kilogram spacecraft with a payload area of 10 cm² into interstellar space.

The founders emphasize that this mission is fueled by the human spirit of exploration, aiming for an extraordinary milestone while addressing the Fermi paradox, which questions why we have not yet encountered intelligent alien life, thus inspiring the mission’s name.

The estimated budget for this ambitious mission is around $15 million, with a planned launch in 2029. The non-profit organization is actively seeking contractors to build the spacecraft, financial partners, and a mix of scientific and artistic payloads—similar to the sensors and Golden Record aboard NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, which was the first human-made object to travel beyond our solar system.

Numerous previous efforts toward interstellar exploration have faltered due to the immense distances involved and our relatively slow modes of travel. For context, Voyager, which was launched in 1977, is now approximately 26 billion kilometers from Earth, while Alpha Centauri, the nearest stellar system, is an astonishing 41 trillion kilometers away.

A former effort initiated in Silicon Valley sought to tackle this issue, leading to the establishment of a non-profit called Breakthrough Starshot in 2016 by Yuri Milner, with support from Mark Zuckerberg. This project intended to create a multi-billion dollar program utilizing a novel laser propulsion system to reach Alpha Centauri within two to three decades. However, it ultimately lost momentum by 2025, despite ongoing interest in exploration.

In contrast, Fermi Explorer adopts a different strategy: rather than striving to push technological limits, it aims to use existing capabilities to achieve something.

“I was once filled with hope but then faced disappointment!” Johnston reflected on the Starshot initiative. “That’s why we are committed to this mission. We plan to actually launch something within three years. … the key difference between most other [interstellar] missions and Fermi Explorer is that they aim to meet their objectives within a human lifetime, necessitating billion-dollar propulsion R&D investments. We’ve intentionally set an 80,000-year timeline as our minimum viable mission.”

The plan involves launching the spacecraft via a rocket rideshare, then employing efficient, low-power electric propulsion to navigate through various orbits, ultimately directing it toward Alpha Centauri. The spacecraft is projected to function for about 12 years before entering a prolonged coast phase toward the adjacent solar system.

“If a dinosaur bone can endure for 200 million years, then surely a metal container can withstand the radiation we expect for 50,000 years,” asserted Johnston. “We do not intend to reactivate the spacecraft after 80,000 years. Our hope is that a future human civilization will stumble upon it.”