Astronomers at the Pan-STARRS Observatory in Hawaii made history in 2017 when they detected 'Oumuamua , the first interstellar object (ISO) ever observed.

Two years later, the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov became the second ISO ever observed. And on July 1st, 2025, the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Rio Hurtado detected a third interstellar object in our Solar System, the comet now known as 3I/ATLAS (or C/2025 N1 ATLAS).

Like its predecessors, the arrival of this object has fueled immense scientific interest and led to proposals for missions that could rendezvous with future ISOs.

Examples include Project Lyra , the Interstellar Object Explorer (IOE), and the ESA's Comet Interceptor . However, a recent paper led by Prof. Abraham Loeb of Harvard Un

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