Blue Origin maps two-phase asteroid defense with ion beams and kinetic hits

Blue Origin is teaming with NASA's JPL/Caltech on the NEO Hunter mission to defend Earth from hazardous asteroids. The plan uses Blue Ring, a modular satellite bus, to deploy cubesats that characterize a threat and, if indicated, redirect its trajectory with an ion-beam emitter; if the rock is too big, a Robust Kinetic Disruption phase could strike it to alter course. The concept builds on NASA's DART approach and also envisions Blue Ring supporting other missions (e.g., Mars telecom) in deep space.