PROJECT ICARUS: Son of Daedalus, Flying Closer to Another Star

Abstract

During the 1970s members of the British Interplanetary Society embarked on a landmark theoretical engineering design study to send a probe to Barnard's star. Project Daedalus was a two-stage vehicle employing electron beam driven inertial confinement fusion engines to reach its target destination. This paper sets out the proposal for a successor interstellar design study called Project Icarus. This is an attempt to redesign the Daedalus vehicle with similar terms of reference. The aim of this study is to evolve an improved engineering design and move us closer to achieving interstellar exploration. Although this paper does not discuss prematurely what design modification are likely to occur some indications are given from the nature of the discussions. This paper is a submission of the Project Icarus Study Group.