The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (I4IS) have now officially launched the Project Dragonfly design competition in the context of the Alpha Centauri Prize awards. The winning team will be the first to receive a newly-developed design award
Project Dragonfly is a feasibility study for an interstellar mission, conducted by small, distributed spacecraft, propelled primarily by laser sails. The spacecraft shall be capable of reaching the target star system within a century and be able to decelerate. I4IS believe that such a mission can be conducted with technology available by 2024-2034 as well as a space infrastructure, available by 2050.
Participation in the competition is currently limited to university teams, which must predominantly consist of students and/or researchers. Non-university members can participate but must be affiliated with a university team.
Registration for teams is open from now until end of September. Please find more information here:
http://www.i4is.org/news/dragonfly
I4IS have assembled a team of engineers from NASA, EADS, and universities who will give advice to the teams and conduct the reviews.
A great opportunity to test your space engineering skills!
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