Comment Read the paper. (Score 1) 113
I'll be surprised if the project stays funded, since even without delays everyone funding it will die before there's any payoff.
Flight time is about 20 years. (Proxima is about 4 light years away and the swarm is averaging about 1/5th lightspeed.) I suspect even some of us boomers can hang in here that long - even if life-extension treatments don't become available.
Also, I wonder what it will cost to fund the laser for half a century.
The launch and acceleration of the whole swarm is over in about a year. Individual elements are up to speed in much less than that.
(You HAVE to do it fast: Once they're moving they're out of range darned quick, so you have to get them to cruising speed before you can't hit them any more. Fortunately the little motes are really sturdy so you can give them a BIG big push.)
Read The Paper.