Tiny Spacecraft Could Race to a Black Hole

Scientists propose a paperclip-sized spacecraft, powered by lasers, to reach a nearby black hole and test the very limits of physics.

Imagine a spacecraft no bigger than a paperclip, propelled by Earth-based lasers, racing toward a black hole to test the very laws of physics.

Astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi of Fudan University has outlined a blueprint for such a mission in the journal iScience—a journey that could take 80–100 years.

Scientists suspect there may be a black hole just 20–25 light-years away. Finding it could be possible within the next decade using new detection methods.

Chemical rockets won’t cut it. Instead, nanocrafts—gram-scale probes with light sails—would be blasted by powerful lasers to reach up to one-third the speed of light.

At that speed, the craft could arrive in about 70 years. Data would take another 20 years to return, making it a multi-generational mission.

A probe near a black hole could reveal if event horizons exist, test general relativity under extreme conditions, and uncover unknown laws of nature shaping the cosmos.

Today, the laser system alone would cost €1 trillion, but to astrophysicist and black hole expert Cosimo Bambi believes future tech advances could slash that cost within decades.

Many once-impossible ideas—like detecting gravitational waves or imaging black holes—are now science fact. This mission could be next.

Reporting in the Cell Press journal iScience. This work was supported by funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China.