Project Icarus: The Pegasus Spacecraft Concept Design Engineering Systems Description

Kelvin F. Long

jbis-078-06-0186

DOI https://doi.org/10.59332/jbis-078-06-0186

In this paper we set out the engineering systems description for the Pegasus spacecraft concept design. This is an inertial confinement fusion propelled spacecraft driven by laser beams. We begin with a discussion on the propellant to payload sizing and then we discuss all engineering systems except for propulsion, which is covered in another paper. We also discuss the construction of the vehicle in terms of using current to near-term launch technology and the use of robotic artificial intelligence drones to strip-mine an asteroid. The Pegasus is a concept for an interstellar rendezvous mission carrying a 150 tonnes payload to 4.3 light-years (ly) in a trip duration of order a century. It would fully decelerate down to local orbital velocity and deploy a group of smaller sub-probes for full exploration and reconnaissance of the stellar and planetary system. This paper is a final contribution to Project Icarus.

Keywords: Interstellar Studies, Engineering Systems, Project Icarus