Initiative for Interstellar Studies

The Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) is a limited by guarantee company, not having a share capital, incorporated in the United Kingdom, which makes us an effective non-for-profit organisation. Our global brand name is actually Institute for Interstellar Studies, but due to UK law the right to use this name has to be earned, and so we are an initiative to become an institute.

Our long term ambition is to enable both robotic and human exploration and colonisation of the nearby stars. However, we have to start with a plan, the builds from incremental steps year on year and takes us in the right direction and with growth as a key. With this in mind the following is the strategic goals of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies, for which our teams are working towards. This is an abbreviated version for public information.

Strategic Goal 1:

Establish a financially sustainable and internationally recognised Institute for Interstellar Studies.

Strategic Goal 2:

Promote the benefits and advocate for our vision of interstellar flight.

Strategic Goal 3:

Establish an enduring foundation to support a broad scope of interstellar focussed activities of the institute.

Strategic Goal 4:

Conduct activities to expand the institutes projects and programs globally so as to create collaborative partnerships.

Strategic Goal 5:

Participate in research and development to advance capabilities for deep space precursor and interstellar missions this century.

The Company’s Objects are:

To advance the ambition of interstellar flight through various educational, research and entrepreneurial based activities;

To foster and promote education, knowledge and technical capabilities which lead to designs, technologies or enterprise that will enable the construction and launch of interstellar spacecraft;

To aspire towards an optimistic future for humans on Earth and in space; and

To be an organisation that is central to catalysing the conditions in society over the next century to enable robotic and human exploration of the frontier beyond our Solar System and to other stars, as part of a long-term enduring strategy and towards a sustainable space-based economy.

HMS Challenger was a peaceful scientific expedition that set out in 1872, on a voyage around the world, making many discoveries along the way. Can we build ships which also venture to explore the ocean of knowledge before us, and so cross the technological horizon, and build similar vessels which cross the sea of Suns – Starships. Once this technological barrier is reached, our trajectory to the stars is guaranteed, and the star at the top of the logo represents the stretch goal that ‘interstellar flight’ provides to develop the technologies and capabilities to explore interplanetary space, interstellar space and the voids in between. The International Space Station is a crowning achievement in our exploration of space. It is the first great modern wonder of space made by human hands, and is an example of what can be accomplished when peaceful co-operation between nations is embraced with scientific discovery as the driver. Pegasus is a constellation of the stars, with 51 Pegasi being indicated as the first exosolar planet to be discovered orbiting another Sun-like star, some fifty light years away. Pegasus is also the name of the Greek mythological winged horse, an artefact of our imagination. Starships too, are considered pure fantasy by many, but Pegasus symbolises our quest to turn imagination into reality and make Starships come to life. Pegasus is also a creature like none we have ever observed, which reminds us that as we explore space, we are likely to encounter life forms, some perhaps intelligent, which surprise us in their construction, evolved from within an alien atmosphere and habitat. Another way to view the logo is that it represents the four key sides of the interstellar square. Firstly, the need to develop the science and the technology, symbolised by the atom, with the motto “Scientia ad sidera” or “Knowledge to the stars” being the key cultural value underpinning the mission. Second, the motivation for discovery and the political and cultural courage to embrace the exploration opportunities within our grasp, symbolised by the ship. Third, the need to develop the appropriate capabilities and infrastructure to support such missions, symbolised by the ISS. Forth, the need to have a destination to go to, symbolised by the constellation of Pegasus. Finally, the ship can be viewed as our quest to explore Earth (our past), the ISS as our quest to explore interplanetary space (our present) and the constellation as our question to explore interstellar space (our future) and ultimately evolve to an interstellar civilization.