# Relativistic Spacecraft Propelled by Directed Energy

@article{Kulkarni2017RelativisticSP,
title={Relativistic Spacecraft Propelled by Directed Energy},
author={Neeraj Kulkarni and Philip Lubin and Qicheng Zhang},
journal={The Astronomical Journal},
year={2017},
volume={155},
pages={155-155}
}
• Published 30 October 2017
• Physics
• The Astronomical Journal
Achieving relativistic flight to enable extrasolar exploration is one of the dreams of humanity and the long-term goal of our NASA Starlight program. We derive a relativistic solution for the motion of a spacecraft propelled by radiation pressure from a directed energy (DE) system. Depending on the system parameters, low-mass spacecraft can achieve relativistic speeds, thus enabling interstellar exploration. The diffraction of the DE system plays an important role and limits the maximum speed…

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