MISSION OVERVIEW

The 1gSpace mission architecture is organized as a staged interstellar program targeting the Proxima Centauri system, with each vehicle assigned a defined validation, logistics, or settlement function within a single operational sequence.

The initial phase is centered on ACEP, an autonomous reconnaissance and technology-demonstration platform designed to validate continuous-acceleration flight, high-latency mission autonomy, long-duration subsystem stability, and scientific operations under interstellar conditions.

After arrival, ACEP establishes the first system-level dataset for Proxima b, including orbital dynamics, atmospheric behavior, surface morphology, thermal distribution, radiation environment, magnetic-field conditions, and candidate twilight-zone operating regions.

This information constrains risk for all later mission stages. ISV Innes then expands the assessment through crew-directed orbital survey and lander-based surface validation. ISV Anglada follows as the uncrewed logistics carrier, and ISV Proxima is reserved for the downstream population-transfer phase after the site and infrastructure model have been verified.

1G CONSTANT ACCELERATION

The interactive slider below is an educational illustration of relativistic travel. Its hypothetical results do not describe mission trajectories, schedules, or spacecraft capabilities.

Selecting a distance compares ship proper time, Earth-frame elapsed time, and peak velocity. By default, the vehicle accelerates at 1 g over half the distance and decelerates over the remainder. Disable arrival braking to model an accelerating flyby instead. Both profiles illustrate relativistic time dilation while maintaining velocity below c.

The slider isolates these kinematic relationships. Its calculations exclude propulsion and fuel constraints, thermal limits, radiation and debris exposure, navigation uncertainty, gravitational perturbations, and cosmological effects. The slider's assumptions and results do not define the mission architecture, operational constraints, or spacecraft capabilities of the 1gSpace program.

Select distance (log scale)

Distance: - ly

Travel time (ship): - y

Travel time (Earth): - y

Top speed: -

PROXIMA CENTAURI

Proxima Centauri is the nearest stellar target to the Solar System and the primary focus of the 1gSpace mission architecture. The star is a low-mass red dwarf gravitationally associated with the Alpha Centauri A/B binary, but it remains dynamically distinct and hosts its own compact planetary system.

The operational target is Proxima b, a terrestrial-mass planet in the system's temperate orbital region. Because the planet is expected to be tidally locked, the most relevant surface environment is the terminator region between the permanent day and night hemispheres, where thermal gradients may permit comparatively stable long-duration operations.

Mission planning treats Proxima b as an environment requiring staged verification rather than assumption-based settlement. ACEP provides the first orbital and atmospheric dataset, ISV Innes performs crew-directed survey and surface-access validation, and later logistics and transport stages proceed only after the site, hazards, and operating constraints have been characterized.

Explore Interactive 3D Model Watch 3D Model Overview

EARTH–PROXIMA b TRANSIT TRAJECTORY

The Earth–Proxima b Transit Trajectory calculator explores relativistic transfers from Earth-Moon L1 to a circular orbit above Proxima b. The spacecraft inherits L1's position and velocity at departure and maintains continuous 1 g proper acceleration.

Compare departure dates, onboard and reference-frame travel times, maximum speed, and propulsive cost. The search considers both clockwise and counter-clockwise orbital insertion to find efficient transfer candidates.

Interactive 3D views follow departure, Solar System escape, the interstellar crossing, and the final approach to Proxima b. Moving planetary positions reveal the geometry of each transfer.

Open Trajectory Calculator

PROXIMA-CENTRED VISIBLE & NEAR-IR SKY

These two distinct 1gSpace products reconstruct selected stellar sources for an observer at the Proxima Centauri system barycentre proxy at epoch J2028.5270, using separate visible-light and infrared datasets.

Visible Starfield: A catalogue-based reconstruction of 1,491,263 sources, with observer-dependent positions, visual magnitudes and colours. Full-sky ICRS and Galactic maps are prepared at resolutions up to 32K, with a fixed NASA Deep Star Maps 2020 layer providing distant Milky Way context.

Near-IR Sky: A separate false-colour reconstruction based on COBE-DIRBE observations reprocessed by Cosmoglobe, with 1,966 stellar objects, including the Sun, modelled in at least one band. The 4K equatorial and Galactic maps retain Earth-derived diffuse emission and incorporate local background estimates at old source positions. The composite spans 1.25-12 micrometres, including bands beyond the near-infrared.

Explore Visible Starfield Explore Near-IR Sky

INITIAL HUMAN PRESENCE

The first human-operated stage is assigned to ISV Innes, which establishes the crew-rated validation phase of the Proxima Centauri mission architecture.

ISV Innes is intended to place a small specialized crew in the target system for orbital survey, environmental verification, and controlled lander-based assessment of candidate operating zones on Proxima b. This phase confirms terrain access, descent and ascent margins, local hazards, surface handling procedures, and crew-support assumptions under actual planetary conditions.

The primary candidate for early surface activity is Eternal Sunset. Before any permanent infrastructure is committed, the site is planned to be assessed first by ACEP from orbit, then by the ISV Innes crew through orbital observation, landing-site inspection, sample return or local analysis, and repeated surface-access cycles.

After crewed validation, ISV Anglada provides the uncrewed logistics stage. Its role is to deliver the equipment, consumables, construction assets, power systems, autonomous support hardware, and surface infrastructure required to transition Eternal Sunset from a validated site into an externally supported operational base.

LONG-DURATION SETTLEMENT

The long-duration settlement phase begins only after the reconnaissance, crewed validation, and uncrewed logistics stages have reduced the major environmental and operational uncertainties associated with Proxima b surface operations.

ISV Proxima is defined as the downstream population-transfer vehicle, responsible for transporting the larger colony element and the primary habitat systems required for permanent settlement. Its role depends on prior validation by ACEP, ISV Innes, and ISV Anglada, rather than operating as an isolated first-arrival vehicle.

Eternal Sunset is the supported initial settlement node. It is planned around transported habitats, delivered infrastructure, external logistics capacity, and pre-positioned surface systems, allowing the first permanent population to stabilize operations and develop reliable local workflows.

Eternal Sunrise represents the later self-derived expansion stage. Unlike Eternal Sunset, it is not planned around additional interstellar transport or external construction support. Its development must depend on in-situ materials, local manufacturing, mature resource extraction, established work practices, population structure, technical culture, governance norms, and operational methods developed on Proxima b itself.

In program terms, the mission sequence advances from reconnaissance to validation, from validation to supported habitation, and from supported habitation to local expansion. The objective is not only arrival, but the creation of a repeatable engineering and social framework for sustained planetary operations.