Deflection Methods
How an asteroid's orbit could be changed — from the demonstrated kinetic impactor to theoretical nuclear concepts.
- Gravity TractorDeflection methodConcept
A spacecraft that hovers near an asteroid for years, its own tiny gravity slowly towing the asteroid onto a new path. Very slow, but precise and controllable — best used with decades of warning, and often after a kinetic impact to fine-tune the result.
- Ion-Beam DeflectionDeflection methodConcept
A spacecraft that points a stream of ions at an asteroid, the gentle continuous thrust pushing it aside over a long time — a slow, controllable method related to the gravity tractor, still at the concept stage.
- Kinetic ImpactorDeflection methodDemonstrated
Crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid at high speed to nudge its orbit — and getting an extra push from the plume of debris thrown off. NASA's DART did exactly this to the moonlet Dimorphos in 2022, measurably shortening its orbit; ESA's Hera is on its way to study the result up close, arriving in late 2026.
- Nuclear DeflectionDeflection methodTheoretical
Detonating a nuclear device near an asteroid — not to blow it apart, but to vaporise a layer of its surface, the escaping material shoving it onto a new course. Studied only as a last resort for the largest objects or the shortest warning times; it has never been tested and remains theoretical.