ROME: The European Space Agency (ESA) has marked a major milestone in planetary defence with the successful activation of its new Flyeye telescope. Designed to track near-Earth asteroids and comets, the telescope has officially recorded its ‘first light’—a term denoting its first capture of cosmic data.
Unlike conventional telescopes, the Flyeye’s design mimics an insect’s compound eye, enabling it to observe an area of the sky more than 200 times the size of the full Moon in a single image. Developed in partnership with OHB Italia, this cutting-edge instrument is tailored for wide-field sky surveys and continuous asteroid monitoring.
ESA’s Flyeye telescope will operate autonomously, scanning the skies each night for unidentified asteroids that may pose a risk to Earth. The agency plans to deploy up to four such telescopes across both hemispheres to increase coverage and reduce reliance on favourable weather at any one location.
Richard Moissl, Head of ESA’s Planetary Defence Office, said the system will serve as a crucial early-warning tool. “The earlier we spot potentially hazardous asteroids, the more time we have to assess them and prepare a response if necessary,” he said.
Detected objects will be verified by ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC), which will then report findings to the Minor Planet Centre—an international database for asteroid observations. Follow-up assessments by global experts will determine potential threats.
The Flyeye’s one-metre primary mirror captures light and distributes it to 16 separate cameras. Each unit works independently to detect even faint celestial objects, allowing simultaneous, high-sensitivity coverage of a vast sky segment.
Operational planning for Flyeye also takes into account variables like moonlight and data overlap with other global survey systems, including NASA’s ATLAS, the Zwicky Transient Facility, and the soon-to-launch Vera Rubin Telescope.
ESA’s Flyeye system is set to play a pivotal role in global space safety efforts by enhancing the speed, scope and automation of asteroid detection.
