UN launches planetary defense exercise using comet 3I/ATLAS
The interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS — the third known object confirmed to come from outside the solar system — has been selected for a global planetary-defense exercise by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) under the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).
The exercise, which began on November 27, 2025, and will run through January 27, 2026, is not a response to any known threat, as 3I/ATLAS poses no danger to Earth, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Instead, it serves as a coordinated observational campaign to test global readiness in detecting, tracking, and analysing near-Earth and interstellar objects, using 3I/ATLAS as a ‘live test case.’
Discovered on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS telescope in Chile, 3I/ATLAS was confirmed as an interstellar object later that month. Its hyperbolic orbit — unique among known cometary or asteroid bodies — confirms that it originates outside the solar system.
Since its discovery, global space agencies and observatories have mounted an unprecedented observational campaign. Over a dozen NASA spacecraft and telescopes — including orbiters at Mars and instruments at Earth — have captured imagery and data as the comet passed through the inner solar system.
In late 2025, even the European Space Agency (ESA) used data from Mars orbiters to refine the comet’s predicted path significantly, improving trajectory estimates by a factor of ten.
Scientists argue that because 3I/ATLAS is interstellar, its composition and behavior may differ from comets formed in our solar system — offering a unique window into other star systems. Studying its activity could help calibrate detection methods for future interstellar visitors, potentially enhancing Earth’s early-warning capabilities for hazardous objects.
This is the eighth global observing exercise by IAWN since its inception in 2017; such drills are held roughly once a year to test and improve the planetary-defence network’s readiness. 3I/ATLAS was chosen because its interstellar origin and observable trajectory present an ideal, realistic test case.
AGENCY statements clarify that the drill is about refining the detection, tracking and characterization processes — rather than reacting to a specific threat.
Astronomers hope the data collected will improve models of how comets — especially those from outside the solar system — behave. This could improve predictions for future interstellar objects or Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) that may pose a risk.
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