Top Chinese scientist calls for global cooperation in near Earth asteroid defense

The 776th session of the Xiangshan Science Conference, themed "Key Scientific and Engineering Challenges in Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Defense," convenes on March 13 at the Xiangshan Hotel in Beijing. (Photo/Courtesy of the DSEL)

Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, called for operational asteroid defense services and deeper international cooperation to protect the Earth, advocating for a global planetary defense community, when addressing the 776th session of the Xiangshan Science Conference, themed "Key Scientific and Engineering Challenges in Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Defense," which convened on Thursday and will continue through Friday at the Xiangshan Hotel in Beijing.

Organized by the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), the conference gathered over 50 leading Chinese space scientists and researchers. Discussions focused on four core topics: asteroid defense science, detection, tracking, and impact technology.

Wu, who is also the director general of the DSEL, co-chaired the event alongside Wang Chi, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the National Space Science Center, and Yu Dengyun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the Science and Technology Committee of the state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Global Times learned from the event organizer the DSEL on Thursday.

Wu warned that a major asteroid impact could devastate human civilization, even leading to extinction, calling it a critical threat to Earth's future. He emphasized that China's pursuit of near-Earth asteroid (NEA) defense missions carries profound scientific significance, engineering value, and humanistic importance.

Currently, several major spacefaring countries around the world are developing programs related to near-Earth asteroid defense. For example, the US' Near-Earth Asteroid Defense Demonstration and Validation Mission, known as the "Double Asteroid Redirection Test" (DART) mission, successfully conducted a kinetic impact on Dimorphos, the moon of the asteroid Didymos, in September 2022, effectively altering its orbital period around Didymos.

The European Space Agency's Hera mission will further conduct detailed investigations of the target impacted by the DART mission. As a responsible spacefaring country, China also places great importance on the threat posed by near-Earth asteroids to Earth and human safety. Previously, China has publicly disclosed plans related to near-Earth asteroid defense missions and is accelerating their planning and implementation.

At the opening ceremony and main forum of the first International Conference on Deep Space Exploration (Tiandu), held in April 2023, experts from China's deep space exploration field provided the public with a detailed introduction to China's near-Earth asteroid defense plan.

They also openly solicited global proposals for the overall plan and related strategies for the first mission, with the goal of achieving a kinetic impact on an asteroid for the first time by 2030. At the second International Conference on Deep Space Exploration (Tiandu) held in 2024, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released the plan and vision for international cooperation regarding China's first near-Earth asteroid defense mission. According to this vision, China's initial near-Earth asteroid defense mission will adopt a "fly-along + impact + fly-along" approach. While the impactor performs a kinetic strike on the target asteroid, a probe will observe the entire impact process and post-impact, continue to assess the impact's effects, and conduct scientific exploration. This single mission aims to achieve both "kinetic impact plus space-based assessment."

China's first NEA defense mission is expected to observe an asteroid closely before impacting it to alter its orbit around 2030, Xinhua News Agency reported on September 5, 2024, citing Tang Yuhua, deputy chief designer of Chang'e-7 Mission, as saying.

"The blueprint for the country's asteroid defense involves two spacecraft - an impactor and an observer - launched into space with one rocket," Tang said, according to Xinhua.

The observer will first orbit the asteroid to gather data, then remotely guide the impactor to strike. After the kinetic impact, the observer will further have an accompanying flight with the very asteroid that changes its orbit, according to Tang.

Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program, and director general of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory (DSEL), addresses the 776th session of the Xiangshan Science Conference, themed "Key Scientific and Engineering Challenges in Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) Defense, on March 13, in Beijing. (Photo/Courtesy of the DSEL)

Tackle challenges

At the conference, Wu highlighted the major challenges in precision impact, effective deflection, accurate measurement, and reliable communication. Key scientific challenges include understanding the dynamics and evolutionary characteristics of asteroid orbits, the mechanisms and effects of impact hazards, and the response mechanisms for in-orbit mitigation. Technologically, advancements are needed in detection, tracking, and impact capabilities under conditions involving multiple spatial variables, significant ground-space time delays, and complex data transmission environments.

Wu proposed building a coordinated space-ground monitoring network for asteroid tracking, early warnings, and risk assessment, alongside developing tailored spacecraft technologies for impact mitigation.

He called for a defense system integrating prevention and response, backed by in-orbit tests to refine mitigation strategies.

Wu's appeal aligns with growing global concerns over asteroid threats and planetary defense readiness. This focus intensified following NASA's recent update on asteroid "2024 YR4," first detected on December 27, 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile. NASA's latest calculations lowered the impact probability of the 40-90 meter-wide asteroid striking Earth on December 22, 2032, to 0.004 percent, dismissing any immediate danger.

The Xiangshan Science Conference was initiated by the Ministry of Science and Technology (formerly the State Science and Technology Commission). Under the joint support of the ministry and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), it was officially established in April 1993.