Don Quijote (spacecraft)

Don Quijote (spacecraft)

Don Quijote is a proposed space probe under development by the European Space Agency, which would study the effects of crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid. The mission is intended to test whether a spacecraft could successfully deflect an asteroid on a collision course with Earth. The orbiter is being designed to last for seven years.

The mission is still in the planning stages with launch dates proposed for 2013 or 2015.