How it works

Teleportation, which means instant travel regardless of distance, is achieved via wormholes. Wormholes are bridges connecting two points in space-time, which could be very far apart. They have an entry and an exit. Think of two dots on a sheet of paper that is then folded, so the dots overlap. That piece of paper is space-time, and that overlap is a wormhole. It allows matter to be transferred from dot A to dot B instantaneously, instead of traveling the long way across the sheet of paper. Black holes are entry points to a wormhole, while void holes are the exit.

Black holes

A black hole is an area in space-time with a huge concentration of mass, such that its volume is zero and its density is infinite. Black holes occur naturally in the universe, usually as a result of massive stars dying (i.e., running out of fuel). For most of a star’s life, gravity and pressure balance each other exactly, and so the star is stable. However, when a star runs out of nuclear fuel, gravity compresses material in the star’s core so much that it collapses under its own weight. A black hole’s gravitational force is so strong that nothing can escape from it, not even light (which means that back holes can’t actually be seen). This strong gravitational force causes space and time to distort up to the point where it rips apart at the black hole’s core, effectively opening a wormhole. Physicists hypothesized for many years what would happen to objects pulled into a black hole, without answers, until void holes were discovered.

Void holes

A void hole is the opposite of a black hole - an area in space-time where there is no mass, so its volume is infinite, and its density is zero. Void holes have not been observed anywhere in the known universe, although it’s believed that only void exists beyond the universe’s edge.

Void holes can be created using dark energy. While “normal” matter and energy are attracted to one another via gravitational forces, dark energy has the opposite effect - it repels matter. When a massive amount of dark energy is concentrated in one point, it causes matter to expand so much that it creates void, i.e. an area occupied with nothing. This is essentially an opening in space-time and the exit of a wormhole.

Objects that enter a black hole exit through the nearest void hole. For example, if two void holes are open where void hole A is closer to a black hole than void hole B, objects that enter the black hole will consistently exit through void hole A. This implies that wormholes are related to distance, although we don’t yet understand why. It’s impossible for objects to enter a void hole, since its repellent forces prevent matter and energy from approaching it.

After years of investment in R&D, SEV produced the first viable (small scale) void gate in 2128. Further developments led to the Titan Void Gate, currently used as the IOST exit.

Construction of the IOST required two massive engineering projects never attempted at the time. First was the creation of a black hole large enough to allow mid-sized spacecraft through. Vesta, formerly the second largest asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, was chosen as a target since it had enough mass to produce the gravitational force necessary to form such a black hole. In June 2140 a purpose-built device, the Vesta Collapser, exerted so much pressure on Vesta’s core that its mass collapsed under its own gravity, creating a black hole that consumed the entire asteroid, the Vesta Collapser and smaller asteroids orbiting nearby. Vesta became the Vesta Black Hole, entry point to the IOST. The Titan Void Gate was the second project. Construction was long and strenuous due to the time taken to ship raw materials from Earth and Mars; when it finally finished in September 2141, the IOST opened with the unmanned teleportation of Janus, a small space carrier named after the Ancient Roman god of gates and transitions. Janus is now displayed in Titan’s iconic IOST museum.

Opening the Titan Void Gate takes vast amounts of resources and requires careful coordination, which is why teleportation windows only happen once every Earth-month. 36 million gallons of standard antimatter (enough to power all existing antimatter-propulsion spacecraft at full power for 5 days) are loaded in magnetic isolation tanks. 5 billion gallons of hydrogen fuel, produced on Titan Outpost factories, are then loaded in preparation for ignition. All this antimatter and hydrogen fuel is consumed to keep the void gate open for 30 minutes, providing passage to the many spacecraft entering the Vesta Black Hole.

Teleportation is a highly controlled process since the fate of objects entering a black hole when there is no void gate open is unknown. It is theorized that these objects will exit at the edge of the universe, and we don’t know what happens to matter in the presence of pure void.

Plans to make the IOST bidirectional were discussed but quickly abandoned. This would require creating another artificial black hole near Saturn, and a void gate near the Sun. However, most material and goods transportation happens from Mars to Titan, which means the potential benefits of bidirectional travel are currently not sufficient to justify the investment. Budget was re-allocated to construct the S2PT instead.

Human expansion

SEV's strategy to expand outside the Solar system consists of opening teleportation routes leading to destination star systems, which in turn places humanity closer to expanding even further. For example, one possible expansion target (after Alpha Centauri) is Luhman 16, a star system 6.5 light years away from the Sun, but only 3.5 light years away from Proxima Centauri. Once humanity can launch spacecraft from Proxima, expansion to Luhman 16 will be far faster than if we had to travel from the Solar system. Expanding to another star system follows roughly these steps:

1. Find a suitable terrestrial planet in the destination star system.

2. Transport settlers and materials in a long, spacecraft-based journey.

3. Establish an outpost capable of exploring the planet’s resources.

4. Build a void gate.

With an operational void gate, teleportation can happen from the nearest black hole. At present the only available black hole is Vesta, but additional ones can be created when bidirectional travels become necessary. It is very likely that a black hole will be created in Alpha Centauri to enable teleportation back to Titan.

The S2PT is the first step in bringing SEV’s expansion strategy to life. When it opens, it will reduce 40 years of spacecraft-based travel to an instant, opening up trade routes between Earth, Mars, Titan and Proxima b. This is humanity's most complex and ambitious mission ever - the culmination of over 160 years of technological advances that made expansion beyond the solar system a possibility. We still have enormous challenges ahead of us, though: reaching Proxima b, establishing an outpost and building the Proxima Void Gate.

This is where you come in. With Noah-1 en route to Proxima b, there are still many life pods reserved for adventurous explorers to become the first humans to land on an alien planet. If you are interested in participating in a one in a lifetime experience, register here to get a seat in Noah-1.