Plans are underway for mankind’s first journey to another star – a trip that is expected to take about 80 000 years.
The Fermi Explorer Mission, a nonprofit organisation, hopes to set off for Alpha Centauri by 2029.
The more than 40-trillion kilometre journey is likely to reach its destination well after other missions that leave later, and the founders hope it will be greeted as a pioneer when it arrives.
But that timeline is not an argument against the mission, they argue: it is the reason to begin.
“We hope to be both the first to leave and the last to arrive at Alpha Centauri,” says Philip Johnston, co-founder and president of The Fermi Explorer Mission. “None of us will be here when this journey ends, and that is the point. It’s about taking the first achievable step and inspiring future generations to keep pushing beyond the limits we inherited.”
Instead of needing billions of dollars, or propulsion breakthroughs that may take generations to develop, the nonprofit is designing around flight-proven electric propulsion and the constraints of what can be built today.
Satellite manufacturers will be invited to bid on the mission with the following four goals:
- Aim: To launch the first spacecraft to another star. It should get at least 99% of the way to the nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, within 80 000 years.
- Payload: It should have at least a 1kg, 10x10x10 cm payload.
- Schedule: It should launch before the end of 2029
- Cost: It should cost less than $15-million to design, build, launch, and operate.
The Fermi Explorer team has designed a feasible mission profile as detailed here, though it is open to new ideas from the satellite manufacturers.
The team also worked with a new physical AI lab called PSI – Physical Super Intelligence, which conducted a feasibility study and devised the final “perihelion pump” manoeuvre, as detailed in their report here.
There will soon be a three-month solicitation period for proposals for scientific and artistic payloads to be added to the mission. The mission also plans to include a copy of the Golden Record, as well as messages from children around the world for future civilizations.
Fermi Explorer plans to open-source its research, analysis, data, and simulation tools so scientists, engineers, educators, students, and curious contributors can test assumptions, improve the mission, and propose useful science for the journey. The goal is that a child who discovers the project today should be able to learn from it, contribute to it, and watch it launch before graduating from high school.
The mission has picked up some early supporters, including Rob Meyerson, former president of Blue Origin, and Alex Wissner-Gross, MIT physicist and investor. The organisation is inviting people to participate by either donating to the mission and/or contributing research and technical expertise, scientific and artistic proposals.
“The most inspiring part of this mission is that people do not have to wait for permission or perfect conditions,” says Garrett Jameson, the former US Air Force officer who leads day-to-day execution. “We can embrace the constraints, build what is possible now, and give the next generation something meaningful to build upon.”
Featured picture: Fermi Explorer co-founder and president, Philip Johnston, pointing at the exact star, Alpha Centauri, the target of the mission, with the Milky Way in view.
Taken in July 2026 by astrophotographer, Alexis Trigo, in the Atacama Desert, Chile, with 20-second exposure.