Speaker
Description
Activities of ESA’s Planetary Defence Office (PDO) encompass the study of meteoroids, the smaller end of the near-Earth object size distribution. In consequence, our three main pillars are therefore related to fireball observations.
On one hand, the observational pillar deals with imminent impactors, objects at the edge between meteoroids and asteroids which are observable from space right in the few hours before the impact. We do follow-up observations of very close approaches and impactors. We are currently researching the effect of LSST discoveries in the field (Frazer et al., 2026). So far, in 2026 we have investigated the impacts of 2026 JN4 and 2026 RW1, the 12th and 13th predicted impactors.
The orbit determination and assessment pillar runs our impact monitor systems. In the NEOCC operational workflow, short-term impacts are assessed by Meerkat. In case of an event with high impact probability, Aegis provides corridor information and we have developed a method to calculate pre-impact meteorite strewn field predictions (Moscati et al. 2026).
In the mitigation pillar we address all the topics that are relevant for reducing the harm in case on an impact. In that sense, the study of fireballs is essential for understanding the dynamics of these objects in the atmosphere. Apart from the activities entrusted by the EC on object characterisation, impacts on the moon, etc., we work on the detection of the fireballs themselves with the development of a pipeline for satellite-based detection of fireballs with Meteosat Third Generation - Lightning Imager data (Rubbrecht et al., 2026, in prep.). We also run 3 all-sky cameras to contribute with observational fireball data and provide material for communications.
The Information provision pillar manages the NEOCC web portal. The website provides the public reliable information on past impactors and imminent impactors. It also hosts the Fireball Information System (FIS) providing a long-term archive of the German part of the ‘European Network (EN)’ of fireball cameras.
Transversal to all the operational tasks, we have some activities to build better knowledge of the meteoroids. Using fireball detections, we are modelling flux density as an input for asteroid population modelling (Frühauf M., PhD dissert. in prep.). We also do active research on NEO science (dark comets, meteorite recovery field trips…) and participate in planetary defence communication and outreach activities.