Heliorail Wants to Build a Laser Rail to the Stars

Field notes

The proposed architecture breaks the propulsion problem into relay segments: stations near Mercury's orbit would refocus a beam across successive 0.1-AU stretches. The page frames Stage 1 as an evidence-building campaign rather than a full interstellar launch, with three launches, two laboratory measurements, and three orbital measurements planned around a $25 million raise. Its example mission sends a 1 kg probe on a 22-metre sail through a solar dive before the outward push.