From May 5th to 9th, 2025, the COMPASS Lab of Politecnico di Milano participated in the 9th Planetary Defense Conference (PDC), held in Stellenbosch, South Africa. This prestigious international event brought together leading scientists, engineers, and policy-makers working to protect Earth from the potential threat posed by Near Earth Objects (NEOs), asteroids and comets whose orbits bring them close to our planet.
As global awareness of NEO-related risks grows, planetary defense is becoming an increasingly vital field. It spans a wide range of disciplines, from orbital mechanics and impact risk assessment to spacecraft mission design and emergency response strategies. The goal: to develop robust and coordinated approaches for detecting, predicting, and, if necessary, mitigating the impact of hazardous space objects.
At PDC 2025, Saverio Franzese and Elena Basile contributed to the technical program by presenting cutting-edge research on asteroids deflection strategies: innovative models designed to alter the trajectory of a threatening asteroid. The work done by the COMPASS Lab was applied to the fictional scenario created in the framework of the UN-mandated Space Mission Planning Advisory Group: the deflection of asteroid 2024 PDC25, allowing the team to test and showcase their methodologies in a realistic simulation environment.
Beyond technical presentations, the conference provided a unique opportunity for knowledge exchange and international collaboration, bringing together experts from major space agencies, academic institutions, and research centers worldwide.