>Accelerating one ton to c/10 takes 125 terrawatt hours, less than 0.1% of our current annual energy usage. We could then reach the nearest star/expolanet in ~40 years (taking a similar amount of energy to decelerate).
The first rule of rocketry: For every ton you fire up add 10 tons to what you fire up.
There is a reason space is hard and that is that every ton you launch will require fuel to get into orbit. And now you have to accelerate the fuel for the majority of the way too so you need more fuel. But that also needs fuel ... etc.
Shooting up 0.1% of our annual energy usage will require an exponential amount of energy to get up.
The biggest rocket I ever build in KSP weighed in at 500'000 tons. With a 1 ton payload it only achieves about 250km/s acceleration. That's less than c/1000.
The Saturn V weighs 3'000 tons and has significantly less thrust (though NASA engines outperform KSP engines).
It's simply not realistic to achieve unless you manage to fire up the mentioned 0.1% of our current annual energy production PER ton of weight.
The first rule of rocketry: For every ton you fire up add 10 tons to what you fire up.
There is a reason space is hard and that is that every ton you launch will require fuel to get into orbit. And now you have to accelerate the fuel for the majority of the way too so you need more fuel. But that also needs fuel ... etc.
Shooting up 0.1% of our annual energy usage will require an exponential amount of energy to get up.
The biggest rocket I ever build in KSP weighed in at 500'000 tons. With a 1 ton payload it only achieves about 250km/s acceleration. That's less than c/1000.
The Saturn V weighs 3'000 tons and has significantly less thrust (though NASA engines outperform KSP engines).
It's simply not realistic to achieve unless you manage to fire up the mentioned 0.1% of our current annual energy production PER ton of weight.