Asteroid research

Asteroids are fascinating objects in the Solar System. Some of them are 4.5 billion years old, which is a third of the age of the entire universe. Asteroids are studied for many reasons, from understanding the Solar System's early evolution to futuristic ideas about mining space minerals. They are like remnants from the formation of the Solar System, and by studying them, it is possible to find out how water and organic substances reached the Earth and other planets.

You do not necessarily have to fly to or land on asteroids to study them. Telescopes also provide important information about the orbit, albedo, color, spectrum type and size of asteroids; but only with a spacecraft can the investigation go into detail: we can collect samples from the celestial bodies themselves.

We propose the use of many small spacecraft to study asteroids. We call it the Multi-Asteroid Touring concept. Statistical reliability is its advantage over a single large mission, where one large spacecraft visits several asteroids. With the help of small ships, it is possible to monitor a large number of asteroids for less time and money and to transfer this data to other unexplored asteroids reliably. It is hoped that such an approach will enable the study of all major types of asteroids.

Read more about the Multi-Asteroid Touring concept in the Space Travel Blog article.