False - Fusion sufficient
Granted it's not easy. Star Trek and Star Wars worp peoples minds by using nearly impossible technology to mislead people into thinking it's the stagnation we've had or some near miraculous new technology. Fusion power alone opens the galaxy. It allows power from the most abundant element in the universe and the speed needed to travel from one solar system to a nearbye one in a single lifetime. Polynesian style colonisation is the plausible method of galactic colonization, not European style imperialism. Even that slow type of expansion validates Fermi's paradox. The advances in human habitat and technology are moving like light speed when compared to the age of the universe.
Regards,
Mark