This 'generational ship' has been designed to take humans on a 400-year voyage to Alpha Centauri

A total of 400 years – that’s how long it would take this generational ship to reach our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri.

Meet Chrysalis – a city-sized, self-sustaining starship concept that could carry up to 2,400 people.

It’s not about speed. It’s about survival. Generations would be born and live out their days on board before anyone even saw their destination (we think we’ve seen this film before).

The mission is so complex, the first crew to operate the ship would need to spend decades training for it in Antarctica.

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How you’d survive (and stay sane) for four centuries on a generational ship

Chrysalis looks like a giant 36-mile tube, built to travel at 0.01 percent of light speed, which is incredibly fast.

Inside, it’s split into rotating shells that create artificial gravity, and big enough to house forests, farms, schools, hospitals, and even a ‘Cosmos Dome’ for stargazing.

One shell would be all agriculture: tropical forest, boreal forest, and scrubland, plus seed banks, DNA stores, and vegetarian food production with lab-grown proteins. 

Another would be for community – parks, libraries, cultural archives – designed to keep a sense of Earth alive. 

Homes would be divided into 20 sectors, so residents could move while still belonging somewhere.

Animals would come too, but just for biodiversity. 

A closed-loop system would recycle water and nutrients, while lighting would simulate day/night and seasons. 

And, of course,  governance would be baked in – every year, the entire population would gather in the Cosmos Dome for the Plenary Council, where residents could debate and decide on policies, resource use, and the ship’s long-term direction, helping the mission survive across generations.

Designers believe the vessel would be so comfortable, future generations might not even want to leave when they arrive at Alpha Centauri. 

After centuries aboard, Chrysalis could feel more like home than any alien planet.

The dream vs. reality

The ship would be assembled at a Lagrange point between Earth and the Moon, a process estimated to take 20–25 years. 

Before it ever left orbit, the first generation of crew would spend 70–80 years living in Antarctic conditions to prepare for life in a sealed, isolated environment.

Right now, it’s still just a concept – the winner of Project Hyperion, a competition judged by scientists including NASA experts.

But it’s one of the most detailed blueprints yet for a true generational ship.

Whether or not Chrysalis ever flies, its design forces us to think about more than propulsion. 

It’s about building a culture that can last centuries in a metal tube, which might be exactly the kind of thinking we’ll need to survive in the centuries to come.

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