The Imperial College London hosted a day-long workshop led by 2025 Schweickart Prize winners Jordan Stone and Kosuke Ikeya. The event brought together undergraduate and graduate students, academics, and researchers with an interest in planetary defense to discuss the current challenges and collaborate on new ideas for protecting Earth from asteroid hazards.
The workshop centered on the winners’ proposal, The Panel on Asteroid Orbit Alteration (PAOA), which explores the creation of an international body to address the risks associated with asteroid orbit modifications, including both intentional and unintentional changes. Participants engaged in a series of talks and collaborative sessions aimed at identifying the next steps in advancing the proposal.
Professor Gareth Collins, who specializes in planetary impact modeling at Imperial College, opened the workshop with an update on the current state of planetary defense. Students then brainstormed new ideas to advance the field, potentially inspiring submissions for the 2026 Schweickart Prize.
“The Schweickart Prize is a fitting tribute to the work Jordan has done leading a team in the Space Generation Advisory Council in their mission to identify, and mitigate, risk in the space sector.” said Professor Nigel Brandon, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial in June, “the international nature of this project is a perfect example of Imperial working across borders to solve global challenges.”
Jordan and his team say that they have big aspirations for the future of PAOA and will continue developing their proposal, with a focus on long-term international engagement. “I believe we’re at a pivotal time when we’ll be setting precedents that could impact humanity for thousands of years, and there could be an amazing future if we go about this expansion responsibly. So wherever I can work on these important issues is where I’ll go!”
The Schweickart Prize is a program of B612 Foundation, a U.S. based nonprofit organization (Tax ID 54-2078469), whose mission is to develop tools and technologies to understand, map, and navigate our solar system, and protect our home planet from asteroid impacts. To support the Schweickart Prize, make a donation today.