---
title: "China Prepares Response to NASA: New Asteroid Deflection Mission Will Be Bolder Than DART"
description: "China Prepares Response to NASA: New Asteroid Deflection Mission Will Be Bolder Than DART 🚀🌑\n\nBy 2030, Chinese scientists plan to strike asteroid 2015 XF261 at a speed of 9 km/s to test Earth-saving technologies. This will be the first experience of directly changing the trajectory of an asteroid relative to our planet. 🌍🛰️"
date: 2026-07-23T15:33:01.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/china-prepares-response-to-nasa-new-asteroid-deflection-mission-will-be-bolder-than-dart
tags: [china, cnsa, nasa, dart, asteroid]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# China Prepares Response to NASA: New Asteroid Deflection Mission Will Be Bolder Than DART

![Chinese space probe approaching an asteroid for a deflection mission surpassing DART](https://xab.info/media/2026/07/23/kitay-gotovit-otvet-nasa-novaya-missiya-po-otkloneniyu-asteroida/kitay-gotovit-otvet-nasa-novaya-missiya-po-otkloneniyu-asteroida-1.webp)

Following the successful test of the NASA DART mission, Chinese researchers have announced their own planetary defense project. Scientists from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) have developed a plan that, according to them, will be bolder and better adapted for protecting Earth from potentially hazardous space objects.

According to a report by South China Morning Post, Chinese specialists plan to conduct an experiment to directly alter the trajectory of an asteroid relative to Earth. The key element of the mission will be the impact of a spacecraft on the target at an extremely high speed.

### Technical parameters and timeline

China intends to implement this complex space maneuver by 2030. To accomplish the task, two spacecraft will be deployed: one designed to deliver the impact, and the second for detailed observation of the collision and its aftermath.

The mission aims to test technologies capable of protecting the planet from massive space rocks. The Chinese spacecraft is scheduled to approach the target during its flyby of Earth in 2029 or 2030. At the moment of impact, the asteroid will be approximately 7 million kilometers from our planet.

### Impact speed and energy

One of the main differences between the Chinese project and previous missions is the collision speed. The spacecraft will strike the asteroid at a speed exceeding 9 kilometers per second. For comparison, the NASA DART spacecraft impacted the asteroid at a speed of 6.1 kilometers per second.

The speed of the Chinese spacecraft will be equivalent to more than 26 times the speed of sound (26 Mach) at sea level. The DART mission reached 19 Mach. This means that the proposed Chinese mission will transfer significantly more kinetic energy to its target, allowing for a more accurate simulation of a real threat deflection scenario.

### Mission target: asteroid 2015 XF261

The object selected for the experiment is the near-Earth asteroid 2015 XF261. This is a relatively small space rock with a diameter of about 30 meters. The asteroid completes a full orbit around the Sun in 359.7 days, and its orbit periodically brings it into proximity with Earth.

Since its discovery, the asteroid has been observed only 74 times. Due to its dimness, very little is known about its composition and rotation. Scientists hope to gather more data on the target before the impact and continue observations after the collision to record changes in its movement.

### Comparison with the DART mission

In September 2022, the NASA DART spacecraft impacted the non-threatening moonlet Dimorphos, altering its orbit around the parent asteroid by 33 minutes. This became the world's first successful planetary defense test, proving the ability to deflect space objects.

However, researchers of the Chinese mission claim that their approach more accurately simulates a real threat. DART altered the orbit of a moonlet, but did not directly deflect the orbit of an asteroid around the Sun relative to Earth. The Chinese project aims specifically to change the trajectory of an asteroid in relation to our planet.

The observation scheme also differs. In the DART mission, the observer function was performed by a separate spacecraft, LICIACube from the Italian Space Agency, which flew behind. Later, the European Space Agency's Hera probe was sent to the asteroid pair. China, however, plans to launch both its spacecraft — the impactor and the observer — as part of a single comprehensive mission.