Japan’s Bold Plan to Protect Earth from Asteroid Collisions

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is preparing for an exceptional mission to test technology capable of intercepting and destroying asteroids that pose a threat of colliding with our planet. The agency has announced its intention to repurpose the Hayabusa2 spacecraft in an effort to intercept and divert a rapidly approaching asteroid.

Originally launched in December 2014, the primary objective of Hayabusa-2 was to rendezvous with the near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu, a task it successfully completed in June 2018. Following 18 months of extensive exploration, the spacecraft even managed to capture samples of debris from the asteroid’s surface by shooting a pellet. These invaluable samples were then safely transported back to Earth in December 2020 for further analysis by the scientific community.

Building on the success of its first mission, JAXA engineers have confirmed their decision to utilize the remaining xenon propellant to enable Hayabusa-2 to conduct a flyby of the asteroid 2002 CC21 in July 2026. Subsequently, in 2031, the spacecraft is scheduled to approach the fast-spinning asteroid 1998 KY26, which is approximately the size of a small school bus and shares its orbit with Earth.

1998 KY26, the target asteroid, is described by JAXA as an almost perfectly spherical object with a diameter of 30 meters. At present, it is orbiting the sun at a minimum distance of approximately 374,000 kilometers from Earth. The agency explained that this asteroid belongs to a category known as ‘fast rotating asteroids’ due to its remarkably swift rotation time of just 10 minutes. This unique combination of being ‘small and fast’ creates a highly unusual physical environment near the asteroid’s surface, where the centrifugal force caused by the rapid rotation outweighs the asteroid’s gravity.

As emphasized by JAXA, the development of such technology is crucial as asteroids of this size collide with the Earth every 100 to 1,000 years, potentially resulting in significant damage. Ground-based observations alone have proven insufficient in providing the necessary data, underscoring the importance of close-up examinations, such as the upcoming missions to 1998 KY26 and 2002 CC21, in advancing planetary defense technologies.

In a statement, the Japanese space agency underscored the significance of this technology, likening it to the capability required to impact a spacecraft into an asteroid in order to alter its orbit, hence highlighting the potential contribution of the flyby mission to planetary defense.

The innovative steps being taken by JAXA to trial and expand these technologies represent an important milestone in planetary defense efforts. The prospect of being able to protect our planet from potentially catastrophic asteroid collisions through these advancements is undeniably a significant achievement and one that highlights the remarkable capabilities of space exploration technology.