The so-called Assembled Kinetic Impactor within China’s Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket. The country hopes this device, on more than 20 rockets, will deflect potentially lethal asteroids and avoid devastation on Earth. Photo: Handout.
The so-called Assembled Kinetic Impactor within China’s Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket. The country hopes this device, on more than 20 rockets, will deflect potentially lethal asteroids and avoid devastation on Earth. Photo: Handout.
China's space programme
China /  Science

How 23 giant Chinese rockets could save the world from ‘doomsday’ asteroid

  • China can send mammoth machines into space which travel for years then deflect problematic rocks
  • Same devices have been criticised recently because one plummeted back to Earth in uncontrolled re-entry

Stephen Chen
Stephen Chen in Beijing

Updated: 6:23pm, 6 Jul, 2021

Why you can trust SCMP
The so-called Assembled Kinetic Impactor within China’s Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket. The country hopes this device, on more than 20 rockets, will deflect potentially lethal asteroids and avoid devastation on Earth. Photo: Handout.
The so-called Assembled Kinetic Impactor within China’s Long March 5 (CZ-5) rocket. The country hopes this device, on more than 20 rockets, will deflect potentially lethal asteroids and avoid devastation on Earth. Photo: Handout.
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