April 2025
Space Elevators - a role in planetary defence?
... ‘surprise’ asteroids led to the recognition of a need for a rapid response capability to protect humanity. The Rapid Response Planetary Defence (RRPD) calls for a short response time for asteroids coming from the Sun’s direction and being...
September 2019
A new era in planetary defence missions
...the efforts to develop approaches for avoiding impacts or managing their aftermath, is the purview of planetary defence matters. While planetary defence activities have been occurring for decades, (in particular, searching for and tracking near-Earth...
May 2026
Focusing the world on planetary defence
... DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission that altered the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos. ESA Planetary Defence Office: Partner in the Hera planetary defence mission, which will study the aftermath of DART’s impact, and the planned Ramses (Rapid...
July 2014
Preventing catastrophic impact
... pose a danger to us suddenly becoming dangerous. The only way we can do this is by creating the rapid reaction phase of a planetary defence system. This must be capable of detecting a cosmic threat from just a few days before or longer. This Citadel...
29 April 2019
Preparing for an asteroid impact - test underway now!
.... “The first step in protecting our planet is knowing what’s out there,” says Rüdiger Jehn, ESA’s Head of Planetary Defence. “Only then, with enough warning, can we take the steps needed to prevent an asteroid strike altogether, or to minimise...
13 February 2024
Thales Alenia Space to provide comms for planetary defence mission
...key communications equipment for the NEO Surveyor mission, which will represent a significant advance in NASA-led planetary defence efforts to protect our planet from hazardous asteroids and comets. “We are grateful to prime contractor Ball Aerospace...
