{"id":34608,"date":"2026-01-14T21:34:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:49:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/?p=34608"},"modified":"2026-01-14T21:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T15:49:35","slug":"ten-asteroids-named-in-honour-of-esas-planetary-defence-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revoscience.com\/en\/ten-asteroids-named-in-honour-of-esas-planetary-defence-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten asteroids named in honour of ESA\u2019s planetary defence work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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ESA’s Planetary Defence team<\/sup><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has approved the naming of ten asteroids \u2013 and one comet \u2013 after people and places linked to the European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) efforts to protect Earth from potentially hazardous space rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the newly named asteroids, provisionally known as 2021 FE40, has been designated (810657) ESOC, after ESA\u2019s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany. For nearly six decades, ESOC has overseen Europe\u2019s most ambitious spacecraft missions, from Earth orbit to distant planetary encounters. It also serves as the administrative hub for ESA\u2019s Space Safety Programme, which includes the Planetary Defence Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovered in March 2021 by astronomer Erwin Schwab and ESA\u2019s former Head of Planetary Defence, Detlef Koschny, asteroid ESOC is estimated to be between 600 and 1,300 metres across \u2013 at least twice the size of the ESOC campus itself. It orbits the Sun beyond Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a ceremony in Darmstadt, ESA\u2019s Director of Operations Rolf Densing said: \u201cThe naming of these asteroids after ESA sites, astronomers, mathematicians, mission analysts and others honours the great work of the Planetary Defence Office and all the teams involved in studying asteroids and using the knowledge gained to protect our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Other names approved in 2025<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The list of newly named asteroids includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n