No need to stop at 550AU, the gravitational lens keeps working beyond that(theoretically all the way to infinity). As for how to get there, yes, innovative pro

No need to stop at 550AU, the gravitational lens keeps working beyond that(theoretically all the way to infinity). As for how to get there, yes, innovative propulsion is required. My idea is that the probe would dive close to Sun and use solar energy (sail? electric propulsion?) to accelerate itself out to hundreds of km/s.