10 Asteroids Named in Honor of ESA's Planetary Defense Efforts
The European Space Agency (ESA) has been at the forefront of planetary defense, and in 2025, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved the naming of 10 asteroids to commemorate the agency's contributions. These asteroids were named after individuals and locations associated with ESA's efforts to discover, monitor, and protect Earth from asteroids and comets.
One of the asteroids, (810657) ESOC, was named after ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. ESOC has been Europe's control center for spacecraft missions, including those exploring planets, comets, and asteroids. It also serves as the administrative hub for ESA's Space Safety Programme, which includes the Planetary Defense team.
The asteroid 2021 FE40, now officially named (810657) ESOC, was discovered in March 2021 by astronomer Erwin Schwab and Detlef Koschny, the former Head of Planetary Defense. It is estimated to be between 600 and 1300 meters in diameter, making it larger than the ESOC campus on Earth. It orbits the Sun beyond Mars.
Schwab and Koschny were invited to ESOC to celebrate the naming of this asteroid and others as part of ESA Director of Operations Rolf Densing's New Year's address on January 13. Densing emphasized the significance of naming these asteroids after ESA sites, astronomers, and others involved in planetary defense, honoring their contributions to protecting our planet.
The list of named asteroids includes:
- (126247) Laurafaggioli, named after Laura Faggioli for her work on asteroid orbit determination and risk assessment.
- (126248) Dariooliviero, named after Dario Oliviero for his operational data provision for the Planetary Defense team.
- (296587) Ocaña, named after Francisco Ocaña for his achievements in Planetary Defense.
- (457818) Ramírezmoreta, named after Pablo Ramírez Moreta for his astronomy research and work in the Planetary Defense team.
- (826631) Frascati, named after the city of Frascati, home to ESA's European Space Research Institute (ESRIN), which hosts the Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre (NEOCC).
- (438881) Michaelkhan, named after former ESA Mission Analyst Michael Khan for his contributions to missions like Hera and Ramses.
- (386618) Accomazzo, named after ESA's former Head of Mission Operations, Andrea Accomazzo, for his role in missions like Rosetta and Hera.
- (321480) Juanluiscano, named after ESA's Juan Luis Cano for his engineering and project management contributions.
- (241373) Richardmoissl, named after Richard Moissl, the current Head of the Planetary Defense Office.
In addition to these asteroids, a new comet, P/2025 W3 (Kresken), was named after its discoverer, ESA astronomer Rainer Kresken.
The asteroid naming process is managed by the IAU's Working Group for Small Body Nomenclature. Asteroids receive a provisional designation based on their discovery date, followed by a permanent number once their orbit is well-understood. The names must be pronounceable, non-offensive, and not related to personal pets, commercial products, or recent political/military figures.
Some asteroid classes have naming traditions, such as Jupiter's Trojan asteroids named after Trojan War figures and the Centaur family named after mythological centaurs.
These names are then approved and used to officially identify the asteroids, written as '(number) Name'.
For more information on ESA's planetary defense efforts, visit the provided links.
