China’s next space goal: to target a dangerous asteroid and nudge it off course
- Space official says scientists will look at near-Earth asteroids over the next few years and aim for the most threatening
- The fourth phase of the lunar exploration programme also gets under way this year, with plans for a station on the moon
CNSA vice administrator Wu Yanhua said the country had started building a defence system against near-Earth asteroids that risked hitting the planet.
He said China aimed to conduct close observation of a threatening asteroid and “implement an asteroid impact” to change its orbit “at the end of the 14th five-year plan (2021-2025), or 2025, 2026”.
“We will start to improve land- and space-based monitoring and early warning systems for asteroids. To do this, we will need to compile a list and, crucially, analyse which are of the greatest risk,” Wu told state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday.
“And we need to research and explore if there are relevant technologies to remove these threats so we can make China’s contribution … to our home planet.”
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President Xi Jinping wants China to build world-class rocket launch sites
In addition, Wu said China would start implementing the fourth phase of its lunar exploration programme from this year, which includes sending the Chang’e 6, 7, and 8 probes to the moon and building an International Lunar Research Station, according to state news agency Xinhua.
