2015 XF261

Near-Earth asteroid April 2026 yes 2015 XF 261 8 December 2015 (Initial reported obs.) 2015 XF 261 NEO Aten 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) 1 2,991 days 1.306 AU 0.674 AU 0.990 AU 0.319 0.985 years 0.794° 209.818° 126.230° 1.001°/day 100.882° 0.00244 AU 3.928 AU 16 meters 25.25 2015 XF 261 is an Aten-type near-Earth asteroid with an estimated diameter of around 16 m on. It completes one orbit around the Sun every 359.7 days, placing it near the 1:1 mean-motion resonance with Earth. It is the target asteroid for a planned asteroid redirect mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). Orbit 2015 XF 261 is a near-Earth asteroid following an elliptical orbit around the Sun, with a semi-major axis of 0.99 astronomical units (AU), an orbital period of about 359.7 days, and an orbital inclination of 0.79°. Due to an orbital eccentricity of 0.32, its distance from the Sun varies from 0.67 AU at perihelion to 1.31 AU at aphelion. Since it is an Earth-crossing asteroid with a semi-major axis under 1 AU, it is classified as an Aten asteroid. Its orbital period nearly matches with Earth's, placing it in a near-1:1 mean-motion resonance with Earth.2 2029 mission 2015 XF 261 is the target for an asteroid-deflecting mission planned by China in 2029, launching in 2027, two years after its previous launch target of 2025. Its original target was 2019 VL 5. The spacecraft is planned to be launched on a Long March 3B in 2027, making a flyby of Venus before arriving at the asteroid in early 2029, and colliding with the asteroid in April 2029 at an estimated speed of 10 km/s on. See also Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), another asteroid-deflecting mission which collided with Dimorphos References 2015 XF261 https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2015+XF261 Minor Planet Center 9 November 2025 live (38 obs) 2024-02-15 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Lookup: (2015 XF261) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=2015%20XF261 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 16 April 2026 live NEO Groups NASA/JPL Near-Earth Object Program Office http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html https://web.archive.org/web/20020202160655/http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/neo/groups.html dead 2002-02-02 2012-06-04 Foust Jeff China reschedules planetary defense mission for 2027 launch https://spacenews.com/china-reschedules-planetary-defense-mission-for-2027-launch/ spacenews.com 16 July 2024 23 July 2024 Zhang Nan Wu Di Zhang Zhong Li Haiyang Baoyin Hexi Preliminary trajectory design of implementing the asteroid rendezvous and impact in a single launch April 2025 Aerospace Science and Technology 159 10.1016/j.ast.2025.109959 External links 3736497 Zou Yongliao Xue Changbin Jia Yingzhuo Li Mingtao Xu Haitao Lyu Bohan Gu Zhang Tang Yuhua Chen Qi Wang Chi April 2024 小行星防御试验任务科学目标设计与有效载荷配置 Scientific Objectives and Configuration Payloads of Asteroid Defense Test Missions https://jdse.bit.edu.cn/sktcxb/en/article/doi/10.15982/j.issn.2096-9287.2024.20230020 Chinese Journal of Deep Space Exploration 11 2 169–176 10.15982/j.issn.2096-9287.2024.20230020 Category:Aten asteroids Category:Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) Category:Minor planets discovered in 2015 Category:Minor planets to be visited by spacecraft