Wu Weiren: China to kick off asteroid deflection project in 2025

China plans to initiate an experimental verification project as early as this year to test the effectiveness of its planned asteroid defense system, according to one of the country's top space scientists.

"We have also planned to launch this effort as early as this year, focusing on a kinetic impact test against an asteroid," said Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's Lunar Exploration Program and director of the Deep Space Exploration Laboratory.

Similar to NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), China's mission will target a small asteroid located tens of millions of kilometers away, aiming to produce an orbital deflection of about 3 to 5 centimeters, Wu said in an interview with CGTN on Friday.

He noted that China needs to build its own planetary defense system, covering detection, early warning, response and rescue.

China first unveiled a conceptual plan for its first near-Earth asteroid defense mission in September 2024 during the 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference (Tiandu Forum).

This year's forum focuses on asteroid detection, defense and resource utilization, drawing participants from international organizations and research institutions.

Wu also emphasized the importance of international collaboration in detecting and monitoring near-Earth objects.

(China Media Group's Ge Qiwen and Wu Jun also contributed to the story. Cover photo by CGTN's Li Yueyun)