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As part of a European Space Agency (ESA) project to consider future space missions related to NEOs, QinetiQ has submitted a study that proves the feasibility of sending a fleet of microsatellites (weighing 120kg each) to rendezvous with a number of different NEOs and collect vital data about them. Funded by the Agency's General Studies Programme, QinetiQ's study is one of several proposals ESA will evaluate over the next few months to decide whether they merit further development.
Named SIMONE (Smallsat Intercept Missions to Objects Near Earth), the study is a unique interplanetary mission concept comprising a fleet of low-cost microsatellites that will individually rendezvous with a different Near Earth Object (NEO), each of a distinct physical type. Using microsatellite technology, SIMONE will be a world-first for interplanetary missions, and over the next 10 years will look specifically at targets between 400 metres to 1300 metres in diameter similar to those that could impact the Earth in the future.
"There is a critical science need to learn more about NEOs. They are made from a variety of materials (such as metal, rock, porous matter or rubble). The objective of the SIMONE mission will be to determine the characteristics of different NEO targets," said Dr Roger Walker, SIMONE Mission and Systems Engineer at QinetiQ.
Using a piggyback ride on an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, each SIMONE spacecraft will be placed into a highly elliptical Earth orbit. The ion propulsion engine will then be used to enable the spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity field and rendezvous with a target NEO.
In-situ science measurements taken by instruments on-board each SIMONE spacecraft will, together, enable the wide diversity in the physical and compositional properties of the NEO population to be characterised in a highly cost-effective manner. The missions will provide valuable scientific knowledge on the nature, origin and processing of NEOs, and the critical physical/compositional information needed for the accurate prediction of impact risk posed by NEOs, and the development of effective NEO threat response strategies specifically tailored for each NEO type. As such, the data is crucial in providing the first steps towards an Earth defence against these objects.
More info: QinetiQ
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