"Nonprofit's Mission: Harnessing Asteroid Materials for Earth's Defense"
The Aerospace Corporation, a California-based nonprofit, is developing a new asteroid deflection system that uses the space rock's own regolith to alter its trajectory away from Earth. Inspired by SpinLaunch's suborbital accelerator, the nonprofit aims to create a simplified version of the system that can be launched to rendezvous with a near-Earth asteroid. Once landed, the centrifugal system would collect small amounts of regolith and fling them into space, gradually deflecting the asteroid over weeks or months. The researchers argue that this approach is simpler and more sustainable than other methods, offering a slow-push strategy to the planetary defense toolbox. The Aerospace Corporation plans to test the system in two years through an Earth-based trial, with the potential for future use in resource extraction from asteroids.