MIPT Researchers Develop System for Intercepting Interstellar Asteroids and Comets
Researchers at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) and the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have completed the development of an algorithmic system for planning missions to intercept interstellar objects entering the Solar System. The approach reduces fuel consumption while enabling interception regardless of an object's trajectory as it enters the Solar System.
Interstellar comets and asteroids travel at extremely high speeds and typically leave the Solar System within a matter of months. For example, the interstellar object ʻOumuamua remained within observational range for only about 120 days, leaving too little time to launch a conventional interception mission.
The researchers propose deploying a network of spacecraft in solar orbit equipped with solar sails and low-thrust ion engines. Once an interstellar object is detected, the system calculates the optimal interception trajectory, while propulsion during the maneuver is shared between the solar sail and the ion engines.
Simulations based on the known parameters of ʻOumuamua showed that the hybrid propulsion approach reduces fuel consumption from 40 kilograms to 30 kilograms, with nearly half of the required acceleration provided by the pressure of sunlight acting on the solar sail.
For now, the project exists as a mathematical framework and a set of mission-planning algorithms. Practical implementation will require solar sails roughly 40 times lighter than those currently available. According to the researchers, future advances in ultralight materials could make the approach the foundation for rapid-response missions to newly discovered interstellar visitors.
