Overview
- Researchers at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology published computer simulations this week proposing a two-step method that first uses a metal penetrator to carve a deep cavity in an incoming asteroid and then detonates a nuclear device inside it.
- The models show a roughly 3‑megaton blast buried about 30 metres can more than triple the velocity change compared with a shallow explosion and could fragment or rapidly deflect asteroids roughly 100 metres across.
- The work is entirely simulation-based with no hardware or in-space tests; outcomes depend strongly on asteroid structure and composition, so real-world results could differ greatly from the models.
- Experts and coverage warn of major hurdles: delivering and placing a large warhead requires heavy-lift launchers and precise autonomous guidance, detonations risk creating multiple hazardous fragments, and the 1967 Outer Space Treaty would complicate any operational use.
- The study expands contingency planning for short-warning, large-object threats but does not represent an operational program; policy, international coordination and validated engineering tests would be needed before such an option could be considered.