Beam me up, jellyfish: experts unveil spaceships to take us to the stars

Winner of Project Hyperion design contest envisions polyamorous people thriving onboard cigar-shaped craft

Spaceships modelled on jellyfish, 3D-printed homes, polyamorous relationships and vegetarian diets are among the ways in which experts have envisaged making interstellar travel feasible.

The ideas from scientists, engineers, architects and social theorists came in response to a global competition to develop plans for “generation ships”, self-sustaining crafts capable of supporting up to 1,500 people on a 250-year journey to a habitable planet.