Interstellar Objects
Bodies passing through the solar system on hyperbolic, unbound trajectories — confirmed examples to date are 1I/ʻOumuamua (2017), 2I/Borisov (2019), and 3i-atlas.
Astrobiological framing
Per src-loeb-panspermia-impact-survival-2026-03, avi-loeb frames interstellar objects as both natural panspermia vectors (carrying organics or microbes from other systems) and potential carriers for human-launched directed-panspermia capsules. Loeb also raises the speculative “Trojan Horse” framing — that some interstellar objects could appear as natural comets while carrying technological payloads, a theme tied to his earlier galileo-project work and his ʻOumuamua hypothesis.
spherex reportedly detected organic molecules on 3I/ATLAS, observational support for treating interstellar objects as targets of astrobiological interest.