What to know

• Fermi Explorer, a nonprofit founded by Starcloud's team, plans a $15 million mission to send a 1kg probe toward Alpha Centauri, launching in 2029.
• The spacecraft would take roughly 80,000 years to reach the star system, relying on existing electric propulsion and orbital slingshot techniques rather than new propulsion R&D.
• It would be the first human-built object explicitly targeted at another star and only the sixth spacecraft to leave the solar system.
• The project follows the 2025 collapse of Breakthrough Starshot, a costlier laser-propulsion effort backed by Yuri Milner and Mark Zuckerberg that aimed to reach Alpha Centauri within decades.

“If a dinosaur bone can last 200 million years then a metal box can easily survive the radiation environment we expect for 50,000 years.”

Philip Johnston, Starcloud/Fermi Explorer founder · TechCrunch · Aug 31

Philip Johnston Starcloud co-founder, Fermi Explorer initiatorAdi Oltean Starcloud co-founderEzra Feilden Starcloud co-founderGarret Jameson Fermi Explorer program managerYuri Milner Founder of Breakthrough StarshotMark Zuckerberg Backer of Breakthrough Starshot