QinetiQ wins asteroid deflection study contract

A QinetiQ-led consortium has won a € 450,000 contract to design a satellite mission that could one day be used to deflect an asteroid threatening the Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) will assess the resulting mission design proposals from the QinetiQ team and two other consortia awarded similar contracts before selecting the preferred design in early 2007.

ESA expects to then award further contracts to build and implement the mission, known as Don Quijote. An asteroid tens of millions of kilometres from Earth that does not represent a danger to our planet will be selected as the mission target in order to demonstrate safely the viability of the deflection concept.

The probability of a large asteroid impact with Earth is very low but the consequence of such an impact would be potentially catastrophic. Asteroids can pass uncomfortably close to Earth. A 500 metre diameter asteroid known as 99942 Apophis that weighs nearly 1000 million tonnes is expected to pass within 30,000 km of Earth in 2029. It is believed that this will be the first time in human history that such a large object has passed close enough to our planet for it to be seen with the naked eye and 99942 Apophis became the first asteroid to register 2 on the Torino scale, a scale used to measure the risk of an asteroid impact.

ESA has been addressing the asteroid problem for some time. In 1996, the Council of Europe called for ESA to take action and contribute to a "long-term global strategy for remedies against possible impacts." Recommendations from other international organisations, including the United Nations, followed. In response, ESA commissioned a number of threat evaluation and mission studies. This preliminary phase was completed in July 2004 when a panel of experts recommended pursuing the Don Quijote asteroid deflection concept.

QinetiQ's team will design their Don Quijote mission based on this selected concept. The mission will involve the use of two spacecraft. The first, an orbiter called Sancho, will orbit the target asteroid, measuring its position, shape, mass and gravity field with great accuracy over several months. The second, an impactor spacecraft called Hidalgo, will then slam into the asteroid at a relative speed of 36,000 kph (or 22,500 mph). Sancho will image the impact and continue to monitor the asteroid's position in order to determine the deflection caused by the impact.

Peter Truss, Business Development Director of QinetiQ's Space Division, welcomed the contract award, saying: "We are delighted to have been chosen by ESA to work on this very important project. The QinetiQ team combines a winning mix of experience and expertise in all the key areas required of the Don Quijote mission and we are confident of presenting ESA with a viable, affordable solution to the asteroid deflection challenge."

Dr Sima Adhya, a member of QinetiQ's Don Quijote team, said: "As a space scientist, this is the kind of mission that you dream of being involved in. While the likelihood of a major asteroid collision with Earth is slim in the near future, such an eventuality would be of truly global significance. As such, the Don Quijote programme represents a necessary response to the threat. I am very excited to be part of a project that has the potential to make a very real difference."

The QinetiQ consortium, including the Swedish Space Corporation (SSC), Verhaert Space (a QinetiQ company), The Open University and SciSys, brings together an ideal combination of European space expertise. QinetiQ, Verhaert Space and SSC together have an excellent track record in smaller, low-cost space programmes, covering the complete range of a mission design, from concept and definition to production and operations.

QinetiQ recently completed design phase (Phase A) payload and electric propulsion work for ESA's Eddington and BepiColombo missions respectively, as well as developing the SIMONE concept for a multi-satellite mission to rendezvous with multiple near Earth objects. QinetiQ's expertise also includes, trajectory design, mission analysis, and systems engineering.

Verhaert's mission experience includes the PROBA programme and the ESA Rendezvous and Docking Mission, where they worked with SSC. SSC's small satellite programmes include SMART-1 and ASTRID.

SciSys are experts in ground systems, software architectures, autonomy, functional engineering simulation and visualisation and have been involved in many ESA science missions.

The Open University's Planetary Space Science Research Institute (PSSRI) is a world-renowned centre of excellence in near Earth object research and high performance, miniaturised instrumentation for space. PSSRI will assess the candidate instrument payload being considered for the mission.