Swarming: Using Tiny Spacecraft to Reach Star Proxima Centauri | NASA Space Tech
Could a swarm of tiny spacecraft reach another star in just 20 years?
Four light-years away, orbiting the dim red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, lies an intriguing exoplanet: Proxima Centauri b. It is the closest Earth-like planet we have found outside our solar system. Today’s spacecraft would take 75,000 years to get there . . . but a revolutionary new idea could cut that down to just twenty years. Instead of sending a single spacecraft, this concept proposes launching thousands of autonomous micro-probes, each just a few grams in weight, and propelling them with laser light.
NASA 360 takes a look at the NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) that could help us explore an Earth-like exoplanet up-close. To learn more visit: https://go.nasa.gov/408MnEv
To watch the in-depth presentation about this topic please visit the 2024 NIAC Symposium Vimeo site: https://vimeo.com/showcase/10973241?video=1008860866#t=8471s
Proxima Centauri lies in the constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur), just over four light-years from Earth. Although it looks bright through the eye of Hubble, as you might expect from the nearest star to the Solar System, Proxima Centauri is not visible to the naked eye. Its average luminosity is very low, and it is quite small compared to other stars, at only about an eighth of the mass of the Sun.
However, on occasion, its brightness increases. Proxima is what is known as a “flare star”, meaning that convection processes within the star’s body make it prone to random and dramatic changes in brightness. The convection processes not only trigger brilliant bursts of starlight but, combined with other factors, mean that Proxima Centauri is in for a very long life. Astronomers predict that this star will remain middle-aged—or a “main sequence” star in astronomical terms—for another four trillion years, some 300 times the age of the current Universe.
These observations were taken using Hubble’s Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Proxima Centauri is actually part of a triple star system—its two companions, Alpha Centauri A and B, lie out of frame.
Although by cosmic standards it is a close neighbor, Proxima Centauri remains a point-like object even using Hubble’s eagle-eyed vision, hinting at the vast scale of the Universe around us.
Video Credit: NASA Space Technology
Duration: 2 minutes
Release Date: Aug. 27, 2025
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