The B612 Foundation has announced the 2026 winner of the Schweickart Prize, recognizing researchers from the University of Edinburgh for their proposal to expand planetary defense to humanity's new frontiers. The prize, named after Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, aims to encourage innovative thinking in planetary defense and protect Earth from potential asteroid impacts. The winning proposal, titled ' Untold Threats: A Worldwide Call to Defend New Frontiers', highlights emerging threats posed by meteoroid storms, ejecta from asteroid deflection and mining operations, lunar impacts, and other hazards. It calls for the establishment of an International Commission on Space Infrastructure Resilience (ICSIR) to investigate these risks and develop recommendations for the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. The authors envision creating a permanent international coordinating body, WARDEN, to complement existing planetary defense organizations and protect humanity's assets beyond Earth. This proposal is a significant step forward in ensuring the safety and sustainability of our expanding space activities and infrastructure.
