China plans high‑speed asteroid impact mission for planetary defense

China's National Space Administration and the Chinese Academy of Sciences are developing a kinetic‑impact mission to test planetary defence. The plan calls for two spacecraft to be launched together, with one probe colliding with the near‑Earth asteroid 2015 XF261 – about 30 m across – at speeds exceeding Mach 26 (over 9 km/s). The impact is targeted for 2029 or 2030 when the asteroid passes roughly seven million kilometres from Earth. A second observation spacecraft will use a Venus gravity assist to position itself nearby and study the collision, measuring changes to the asteroid’s orbit, shape and internal structure. The mission follows a series of Chinese initiatives, including joining the International Asteroid Warning Network, establishing an early‑warning network, and publishing a 2021 Space White Paper that elevated planetary defence to a policy priority. If successful, the project would be China’s first end‑to‑end demonstration of an operational planetary‑defence system, building on the earlier NASA DART test and aiming to show that an asteroid’s trajectory can be altered directly to protect Earth.