Swarming Proxima Centauri: NASA NIAC Phase I Concept for Laser-Propelled Autonomous Probes

To the point

NASA selected a plan led by Marshall Eubanks of Space Initiatives Inc. and the Initiative for Interstellar Studies to launch thousands of gram-scale probes propelled by a 100-gigawatt laser toward Proxima Centauri, where they would travel at relativistic speeds, autonomously search for signs of life or technology on Proxima b, and transmit data back to Earth as a test bed for swarm robotics and future exploration, with arrival expected in the latter half of the century.