The Starshot Program

The Starshot Program was a series of three unmanned missions launched toward the Fate system between 1968 and 1974. The probes were the first spacecraft to use nuclear pulse propulsion for traversal and also the first Aronian made objects to travel to the Fate system.

Starshot-1

Starshot-1 was designed to return the first close photographs of the Fate system. It carried wide narrow-angle cameras, spectrometers, and other instruments.

The probe began transmitting the first photographs in 2022. Its photographs were assembled from measurements taken through several wavelength filters, producing the first approximate true-color images of Fate and its planets.

After completing its main mission, Starshot-1 had a gravitational encounter and entered into a trajectory through the outer system. This placed the spacecraft in a position where both Hope and Fate could be photographed within the same field of view. The resulting image, taken around 2071, became known as the All of Us photograph. The photo contained only the two faint points of light known as Hope and Fate. The photograph became one of the most widely reproduced images in history.

Starshot-1 continued transmitting until the collapse of the UFSL caused the loss of the communications network responsible for tracking it.

Starshot-2

Starshot-2 was sent to study Noi and its moons. The probe passed several of Noi's large moons, using their gravity to reduce its velocity into an orbit around Noi. After a final maneuver, it entered a highly elliptical and partially stable orbit around Noi.

From orbit, Starshot-2 returned measurements of the planet's atmosphere, magnetic field, radiation belts, and moons. However, repeated exposure to intense charged-particle radiation gradually damaged its electronics. The probe eventually stopped transmitting in 2049 and is believed to remain in orbit around Noi.

Starshot-3

Starshot-3 was designed as a wider survey mission. It performed flybys of Maiy, Chressia, and Entactrius, collecting photographs and measurements during each encounter.

After passing Entactrius, the probe entered a highly eccentric orbit around Fate. From this orbit it studied the star's radiation, stellar wind, dust environment, and the outer regions of the system.

Starshot-3 continued operating for many years, although contact became increasingly irregular during the UFSL–Aquita War. It stopped transmitting shortly after the collapse of the UFSL, most likely because of power-system failure and the loss of communications infrastructure on Aron.

Cancelled missions

Two further probes, Starshot-4 and Starshot-5, were planned during the later years of the program. Starshot-4 would have carried a lander to Maiy, while Starshot-5 was intended to land on Entactrius.

Development was suspended after the detection of the Kertari Asteroid, when scientific funding, nuclear material, launch systems, and engineering personnel were redirected toward asteroid observation and planetary defense. Neither spacecraft was completed.