EU-ESA workshop on Near-Earth Objects: DG DEFIS, ESA and NEO experts discussed meteor observations for planetary defence
From 3 to 5 November 2026, DG DEFIS and ESA’s Planetary Defence Office hosted this year’s EU-ESA workshop on Near-Earth Objects in Petralia Sottana, Sicily. ☄️
The focus this year was meteors. Small asteroids are now regularly spotted just hours before they hit Earth’s atmosphere. Each of these events lets us follow the same object from space, through the fireball in the sky, to the meteorites on the ground.
90 experts in telescopes, camera networks, radar, infrasound and meteorites came together to find ways to work better as one European community, and to be ready for the next one.
Participants worked on mapping end-to-end European workflows for imminent impactors, from detection and rapid telescopic follow-up to atmospheric observation and joint post-event analysis. They discussed how the different observation networks can coordinate a fast response, and how combining telescope and atmospheric data can improve estimates of an object’s trajectory, physical properties and impact effects. Participants also identified ways to strengthen links between the astronomy and meteor communities, such as regular exchanges, shared terminology and clear points of contact for future events.
Background
NEO is a subcomponent of the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) component of the EU Space Programme. It aims to coordinate and improve European capabilities and activities related to the monitoring of space rocks whose orbits approach or cross the Earth's orbit.
To this end, the EU supports activities that map Member States' capabilities to detect and monitor NEOs, promote networking among Member States' facilities and research centres through a yearly conference, develop a European catalogue of physical properties of NEOs, and develop a routine rapid response service that can characterize newly detected NEOs.
This workshop is an ESA deliverable as part of its Contribution Agreement with DG DEFIS in the implementation of the NEO subcomponent of the EU Space Programme.