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2015 XF₂₆₁ is a Near-Earth Aten asteroid with an estimated diameter of between 16 m (52 ft) and 69 m (226 ft), with next closest approach occurring on 21 February 2025 at 16:25 UTC and closest approach of the 21st century occurring on 11 April 2090 at a nominal distance of 0.00302 au (452,000 km). It completes one orbit around the Sun every 360 days.

2029 mission

2015 XF₂₆₁ is the target for an asteroid-deflecting mission planned by China in 2029, launching in 2027, two years after its previous launch target of 2025. Its original target was 2019 VL5. The spacecraft is planned to be launched on a Long March 3B in 2027, making a flyby of Venus before arriving at the asteroid in early 2029, and colliding with the asteroid in April 2029 at an estimated speed of 10 km/s (6.2 mi/s).

See also

• Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), another asteroid-deflecting mission which collided with Dimorphos

References

1. ^ "2015 XF261". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
2. "Object/Trajectory Details 2015 XF261". cneos.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
3. Foust, Jeff (16 July 2024). "China reschedules planetary defense mission for 2027 launch". spacenews.com. Retrieved 23 July 2024.

External links

• 2015 XF261 at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters
• Zou, Yongliao; Xue, Changbin; Jia, Yingzhuo; Li, Mingtao; Xu, Haitao; Lyu, Bohan; Gu, Zhang; Tang, Yuhua; Chen, Qi; Wang, Chi (April 2024). "小行星防御试验任务科学目标设计与有效载荷配置" [Scientific Objectives and Configuration Payloads of Asteroid Defense Test Missions]. Journal of Deep Space Exploration (in Chinese). 11 (2): 169–176. doi:10.15982/j.issn.2096-9287.2024.20230020.

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