11/11/2025
Building the Hazard Risk Assessment for Asteroid Missions
Our next era of space exploration will see us not just visiting asteroids, but interacting with them for science, for resources, and for planetary defense. However, these interactions carry a critical, often overlooked risk: the potential to inadvertently alter an asteroid's orbit and spin rate, and generate debris, creating a new hazard for satellites and Earth.
This project is based on the winning proposal for the 2025 Schweickart Prize. Our mission is to address a critical and growing risk in the new space age: the potential for space missions to inadvertently alter the orbits or spin of near-Earth asteroids, creating a new impact hazard for Earth. We will draft a comprehensive risk assessment template for space missions that interact with near-Earth asteroids (like AstroForge's Vestri or ESA's Ramses mission). This template will be designed for an international oversight body, ensuring that all actors understand and mitigate the risks of altering asteroid orbits before their missions launch.
If you're passionate about safeguarding our planet's future and ensuring the responsible development of space, we want you on the team.
Let's build the guardrails for the next giant leap.
Project Lead: Jordan Stone
Deadline Dec 15th
Apply here : https://forms.gle/DctrBeVhu7TwjkjJA
Results will be announced in early January
