Pellet-beam propulsion spacecraft could reach Voyager 1 in 5 years

For Dayovan's pellet-beam propulsion concept, he and his team proposed using two spacecraft. One would set off towards interstellar space, while the other would go into orbit around Earth. From there, the orbital spacecraft would fire thousands of tiny metallic pellets at the interstellar spacecraft every second. It would also either fire a 10-megawatt laser beam at the interstellar probe or align a laser fired from the ground toward the interstellar craft.

That laser would hit the pellets and heat them to the point that a layer is removed and become plasma. That plasma accelerates the pellet remnants, and the pellet beam provides thrust that propels the spacecraft at enormous speeds.

Dayovan also proposed an alternative method where an onboard magnetic field-generating device could deflect the pellets and propel the craft forward.

Traveling into deep space at 480,000 km/h

The Breakthrough Starshot concept aims to propel its probe at 20 percent the speed of light, though it seeks to use a tiny probe only capable of carrying a basic camera.

Dayovan believes the pellet-beam propulsion system could propel a 1-ton probe at speeds of up to roughly 480,000 kilometers per hour (300,000 miles per hour), meaning it would be 10 times faster than chemical propulsion systems for traditional rockets. It would also be fast enough to overtake Voyager 1 — the farthest human-made spacecraft from Earth — in only five years.

Thanks to NASA's NIAC program, Dayovan, and his team now have $175,000 in funding to demonstrate the concept's feasibility. Much like with Breakthrough Starshot, the new concept relies on significant advances in laser design, meaning it will be some time before we see a pellet-beam propulsion system take to the skies.