China is preparing what appears to be its first planetary defence mission, and the proposed test would involve slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid at about 9km/s. That speed is roughly equivalent to Mach 26 near sea level, making it an exceptionally fast impact attempt based on the reported plan.
According to a newly outlined paper, the mission looks more ambitious than NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART. The reported impact speed is said to be nearly 50 per cent faster than NASA’s mission, pointing to a more forceful kinetic impact experiment.
Planetary defence efforts focus on whether a direct hit can slightly alter an asteroid’s trajectory. In theory, even a small shift in an object’s path could become significant over time, which is why these missions are studied as a possible way to reduce future asteroid risk.
While only limited details are available from the trimmed report, the proposal highlights China’s expanding interest in asteroid research and space-based defence capabilities. If carried out as described, the mission would represent a notable development in the broader international push to test asteroid deflection strategies.
