In a future where humanity can wander the cosmos to far-off exoplanets, not over decades but over centuries. The Hyperion competition invites innovative thinkers to present their visionary concepts for self-sustaining generation ships with a prize of $10,000 at stake.
A generation chip transcends the definition of a mere spacecraft and the spacecraft will be representing a self-contained community in the vastness of space. These colossal vessels are created in a way to accommodate hundreds of individuals for centuries. This allows them to journey to distant stars or potentially habitable worlds, the Hyperion competition challenges the participants to conceptualize these autonomous living environments, which must sustain human life for up to 250 years during a deep-space mission.
The endeavour of creating such a ship not only includes engineering feats but also sociological as well as biological considerations. The design process must combat the technical challenges along with addressing the social dynamics, physiological well-being of individuals as well as biological needs on prolonged space voyages.
The technological challenges linked with creating a generation ship are immense and the use of current propulsion methods such as chemical rockets, do not have the required speed for interstellar travel within a human lifetime.
More advanced options such as fusion propulsion or laser sail technology have the ability to theoretically achieve speeds nearing 20% of light speed encountering substantial economic and engineering obstacles.
The Hyperion competition is much more than just an academic challenge, it is a stepping stone towards the future of interstellar exploration. Organized by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4i). The competition also looks forward to innovative ideas that could lay the groundwork for actual generation ships.
The selected project will receive acknowledgement from leaders and experts in the space industry and the winner will also get a prize of $10,000, it will be major significant milestone in humanity’s quest to explore and get to know more about stars.
