How to conceal your destination in space?

The Intergalactic Colonization Authority has a problem. They've recently discovered this awesome planet they want to colonize, but it's located in a part of the universe most of the rest of the civilized races deem to be off limits. If the colony is detected, certain organizations will be more than happy to erase the colony from existence.

The ICA has looked at ways to block signals emanating from the planet without much luck, and have elected to rely heavily on their selection process for who is allowed to even know the colony exists, let alone go to it. While they can reliably control the beginning of the journey to the planet and the conditions at the planet, they need a way to ensure that the transport vessels cannot be tracked remotely, or at least that their destination remains a mystery. (Following such a vessel would always reveal the destination, so is explicitly excluded from this topic.)

We've previously discussed reasonable means of detecting spacefaring vessels during warfare (which can easily be extrapolated to non-military endeavors), and we know that stealth in space has no non-magical solution.

So, barring magic and handwaves, is there any technology or tactic that can be employed to conceal a spacefaring vessel's final destination from a third party and, if so, what is it?

Note that, while both magic and FTL technology exist in this universe, neither is a welcome answer to this question. This question is purely concerned about levels of technology that we can currently employ or theorize.

posted almost 8 years ago

Frostfyre‭

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