Editing Bussard ramjet (section)

===Dyson swarm-based stellar engine (Caplan thruster)===
{{anchor|Caplan thruster}}
Astrophysicist Matthew E. Caplan of [[Illinois State University]] has proposed a type of [[stellar engine]] that uses a [[Dyson swarm]] of mirrors to concentrate stellar energy onto certain regions of a Sun-like star, producing beams of [[solar wind]] to be collected by a multi-ramjet assembly which in turn produces directed jets of plasma to stabilize its orbit and [[oxygen-14]] to push the star. Using rudimentary calculations that assume maximum efficiency, Caplan estimates the Bussard engine would use 10<sup>15</sup> grams per second of solar material to produce a maximum acceleration of 10<sup>−9</sup> m/s<sup>2</sup>, yielding a velocity of 200&nbsp;km/s after 5 million years, and a distance of 10 [[parsec]]s over 1 million years. The Bussard engine would theoretically work for 100 million years given the mass loss rate of the Sun, but Caplan deems 10 million years to be sufficient for a stellar collision avoidance.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Caplan |first=Matthew |date=December 17, 2019 |title= Stellar engines: Design considerations for maximizing acceleration |url= https://sites.google.com/view/m-caplan-stellar-engines/startseite |journal=Acta Astronautica |volume=165 |pages=96–104 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191223070252/https://sites.google.com/view/m-caplan-stellar-engines/startseite |archive-date=December 23, 2019 |access-date=December 22, 2019 |doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.08.027 |bibcode=2019AcAau.165...96C |s2cid=203111659 }} [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.08.027 Alt URL]</ref>