“In future, we will be able to land on an asteroid and study the possibility of its impact on Earth, and prepare for defence. We want to start by collaborating with other countries and organisations that have already developed some skills in this,” Somanath said.As a spacefaring nation with the capabilities to land on the Moon and place a satellite in the Lagrange Point of the Sun, India is now keen to contribute to studying asteroids, he said.“There are lakhs of asteroids in space, mostly between Mars and Jupiter. Despite being small in size, they possess huge amounts of energy. According to studies, the entire mass of all asteroids is less than three per cent of the Moon’s mass. Even that small mass travelling at huge velocities can create an impact,” he said, while emphasizing that while they pose a threat, they also offer opportunities for scientific exploration.As per current data, there is no prediction of an asteroid hitting Earth in the next 100 years, but the scientific community needs to develop better technologies to track them. So far, until June 2022, a total of 1.32 crore asteroids have been identified, according to NASA.
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