China Prepares to Protect the World by Defeating an Asteroid and Testing It in 2030

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) is planning a mission to deflect the asteroid's orbit. The goal is to start the test in 2030, divided into two missions, the first mission will be to collide the spacecraft with an asteroid. The second mission will be to observe rocks in space. To learn more about the solar system and the formation of asteroids.

For the mission, the asteroid 2015 XF261, which is about 30 meters in diameter, was chosen as the primary target. The asteroid was identified in the Small Object Database, which was prepared by the US Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) about the orbital position that was closest to Earth on July 9, at a distance of about 50 million kilometers, and at a speed of about 42,000 kilometers per hour. Or 30 times faster than the speed of sound.

China's development plans for asteroid impact or deflection technology have been underway for some time. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has confirmed that it has scientific goals and protection against asteroids that may orbit close to Earth in the future.

Wu Weiren, director of China's Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), revealed additional information that China's mission to hit asteroid 2015 XF261 is expected to take place around 2027 or before 2030, which is consistent with the orbital path of the 2015 km asteroid. The best chance for the mission is expected to be in April 2029, when asteroid 2015 XF261 will approach Earth at a distance of 7.1 million kilometers.

Previously, NASA successfully completed the DART mission or the spacecraft impact mission with an asteroid named Dimorphos in the Didymos double asteroid system and successfully changed the asteroid's orbital position. This is an important achievement in protecting Earth from potential future asteroids.

Also in October 2024, ESA plans to send the Hera spacecraft to the binary asteroid system Didymos to further assess the impact of the DART mission on the asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos in 2026.

A source of information Space.com website