**8. Validation testing**

Just like Tsiolkovky's equation has significance for the practical limitations of chemical rockets, the velocity equation (Eq. (4)) has great significance for the possibilities of matter/anti-matter spacecraft. Because the speeds that can be achieved by a matter/anti-matter spacecraft are a function of the number of electron/positron pairs that can be produced, experimental determination of an optimized paired-particle generator's capacity to produce paired particles is the most logical first experimental step (in engineering terms, a "validation" step). These experiments, and follow-on experiments, should also determine whether the target substrate or the laser used are lost in some way ("burning", degradation of some sort, etc.) in the Bethe-Heitler Process, so that the potential *time* that the system can reliably operate can also be determined.

The first planned experiment to further develop this technology is an experiment to determine the specific numbers of paired particles that can be generated by a high-energy laser striking various targets. Taking advantage of a matter/anti-matter "circuit" in a custom laboratory apparatus, as well as a precision gamma-counting system designed for the task, Albireo Scientific Corporation is currently in the process of conducting this experiment, possibly under the auspices of the LaserNetUS consortium in the United States.

With this experiment, and follow-on experiments, it should be possible to determine the practical feasibility of matter/anti-matter propulsion.
