Chinese Researchers Model Deep-Bore Nuclear Strategy for Asteroid Defense

A team led by Xiaowei Wang at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT) published a simulation analysis in *Space: Science & Technology*. The paper proposes a two-step method: an uncrewed spacecraft with a heavy metal penetrator creates a crater up to 30 m deep, then a second spacecraft delivers a nuclear warhead into the cavity for a subsurface detonation.

Chinese Scientists Unveil Internal Nuclear Detonation Strategy for Asteroid Defense

Planetary-defence strategies have traditionally used kinetic impactors. NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) in 2022 shifted a small moonlet’s speed by only a few millimetres per second, effective only with years of warning. For larger asteroids detected with months or weeks of notice, kinetic nudges are insufficient, prompting a revisit of nuclear options first suggested in the 1990s.

Nuclear Detonation Proposed as Ultimate Defense Against Doomsday Asteroids

• A 3-megaton explosion—about 200 × Hiroshima—can fragment an asteroid roughly 100 m across.

Armageddon was RIGHT: Simulations reveal how we really could nuke a doomsday asteroid by burying a bomb deep within it

• Burying the device 30 m deep triples the velocity change compared with a surface blast.

South China Morning Post

• For a 1-km rock, the same buried charge yields a velocity increment of ?30 cm s?¹, over three times the effect of a shallower detonation and roughly 110 × the change achieved by DART.

Interesting Engineering

• A 300-kiloton device could vaporise a 50-m asteroid, while the 3-megaton option could deflect a kilometre-scale object with a speed change equivalent to 2.2 mph at optimal depth.

Interesting Engineering

The researchers note that precise detonation point selection reduces the engineering challenge of designing a warhead that survives hyper-velocity impact.

Chinese Scientists Unveil Internal Nuclear Detonation Strategy for Asteroid Defense

With only weeks of warning, kinetic-only options may fail to produce a sufficient trajectory change. The deep-bore nuclear concept could achieve the needed deflection in a shorter timeframe, expanding the window for planetary-defence actions.

Nuclear Detonation Proposed as Ultimate Defense Against Doomsday Asteroids

The authors stress that further modelling and engineering studies are required before any practical implementation. Near-term work continues to focus on detection improvements and kinetic-impact testing, including a planned Chinese kinetic-impact mission later this decade. No nuclear device has been built or launched for this purpose; the approach remains confined to simulation results pending future research and policy discussions.

Chinese Scientists Unveil Internal Nuclear Detonation Strategy for Asteroid Defense