AI-Assisted Interstellar Plan Targets Alpha Centauri on an 80,000-Year Journey by 2029
A nonprofit, AI-assisted initiative called the Fermi Explorer Mission plans to launch a lightweight solar-electric spacecraft by 2029 and send it on an approximately 73,000–80,000 year journey to Alpha Centauri. The novel approach relies on repeated close solar passes (perihelion pumping) and proven propulsion tech rather than lasers or nuclear drives, with an estimated cost under $15 million and a rideshare from GEO to meet mass constraints. While extremely slow, the mission would demonstrate humanity placing a deliberate interstellar trajectory on an engineering path that could be surpassed by future spacecraft, rather than achieving rapid interstellar travel.