NASA Preliminary design review: Koios 1

Koios-1 seeks to answer questions that are beyond the spectrum of current interplanetary understanding. Where did these asteroids come from? What are they made out of? What threat do they pose to our global security? The utilization of current scientific instrumentation can answer these questions and paint a new picture of how the leftover debris from our galactic formation truly came to be.

The Koios-1 satellite is traveling to 2022 OE2, an Apollo-class Asteroid whose orbit comes within close proximity to Earth classifying it as a potentially hazardous asteroid. 2022 OE2 may contain answers that could benefit the understanding as to where asteroids come from and their contents. The 2022 OE2 is also one of the more possible dangerous asteroids, as it has a relatively high likelihood of coming in contact with the Earth in the next 20 years. The Koios-1 satellite will determine 2022 OE2’s physical and compositional properties which will aid in the event of future impact missions. Finally, near-Earth asteroids such as 2022 OE2 contain a plethora of information that needs to be extracted to assist in the future analysis and longevity of our global security. In the future, with the assistance of Koios-1, these asteroids may one day fuel the exploration of space and beyond.