Metamaterial Starchip Nanosails | NextBigFuture.com

Dr. Norte describes the state of the art for Starchip Nanosails. The Starshot Breakthrough initiative has been funding a 4 by 4 meters sail that weighs one gram. This will be propelled by a 100 Gigawatt laser array to travel at 20% of lightspeed to Alpha Centauri. He has made 4.5 centimeter by 4.5 Centimeters mirror like sail prototypes. These are made with an array of nanoscale holes which enable a mirror like surface with lightweight material. This was made for $25,000.