In Quest to Reach Alpha Centauri, Breakthrough Starshot Launches World’s Smallest Spacecraft “Breakthrough Starshot, a multi-faceted program to develop and launch practical interstellar space missions, successfully flew its first spacecraft — the smallest ever launched. On June 23, a number of prototype “Sprites” – the world’s smallest fully functional space probes, built on a single circuit board — achieved Low Earth Orbit, piggybacking on OHB System AG’s ‘Max Valier’ and […]

U.S. lawmaker orders NASA to plan for trip to Alpha Centauri by 100th anniversary of moon landing, Science “Representative John Culberson (R-TX), a self-professed space fan who chairs the House appropriations subpanel that oversees NASA, included the call for the ambitious voyage in a committee report released today. The report accompanies a bill setting NASA’s budget for the 2017 fiscal year, which begins 1 October; the full House appropriations panel […]

Announcing “Breakthrough Starshot”: Building Earth’s First Starships, SpaceRef “Plans for Earth’s first starships are being announced today in New York City. At a midday press conference, Yuri Milner’s Breakthrough Prize Foundation is unveiling its latest project: “Breakthrough Starshot”. If Milner’s team can pull this off, people alive today could see starships depart from our planet and reach another star system within their lifetime. And everyone will be invited to help […]