It’s the year 2028, and the European Space Agency has been carefully monitoring a worrying situation: an enormous asteroid is en route to strike Earth, although the exact point of impact is not yet clear.

National governments are planning to evacuate millions of people, an undertaking that will cause untold human misery and disruption on a gigantic scale. If the asteroid’s impact zone can be fixed, perhaps such chaos can be avoided.

As precious hours pass, find out how ESA’s Planetary Defence Office is able to obtain crucial information on this potential disaster as part of the Agency’s Space Safety activities.

Back to the present day: Find out more about how ESA is preparing to protect our pale blue dot, its inhabitants and the vital satellite systems on which we have become so dependent.

Space safety at ESA

Solar activity, asteroids and artificial space debris all pose threats to our planet and our use of space.

ESA's Space Safety activities aim to safeguard society and the critical satellites on which we depend, identifying and mitigating threats from space through projects such as the Flyeye telescopes, the Lagrange space weather mission and the Hera asteroid mission.

As asteroid experts meet for the international Planetary Defense Conference, ESA is focusing on the threat we face from space rocks. How likely is an asteroid impact? What is ESA doing to mitigate impact risks? Follow the hashtag #PlanetaryDefense to find out more.

Space Safety & Security at ESA: www.esa.int/spacesafety
Planetary Defence: www.esa.int/planetarydefence
Download the posters: www.esa.int/paleblue

ESA would like to thank the ESOC Theatre Group for their invaluable support in producing this video.