Flyeye telescope will spot asteroids faster than ever before

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Flyeye telescope has captured its “first light” over Matera, Italy, signaling the start of nightly, automated hunts for hazardous asteroids.

Within the decade, a global swarm of up to four of these compound-eyed sentinels will scan the skies from both hemispheres.

Telescope thinks like a fly

We all know how impossible it is to swat a fly: its bulging compound eyes spot motion almost anywhere. ESA engineers borrowed that same principle when they designed the Flyeye telescope.

A three foot (one meter) primary mirror funnels starlight onto a 16-faceted, pyramid-shaped splitter. Each facet feeds a separate camera, delivering a 45 square degree field of view. That’s more than 200 times the area of the full Moon in a single exposure.

“The unique optical design of the Flyeye telescope is optimized for conducting large sky surveys while maintaining high image quality throughout the wide field of view,” said Roberto Aceti, the managing director at OHB Italia.

Flyeye spots hazards faster

Every few minutes the telescope photographs a fresh patch of sky, then moves on. Specialized software compares consecutive images, flagging any faint, fast-moving dots that could be undiscovered asteroids.

The next morning, staff at ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center (NEOCC) verify the detections. The data is then sent to the Minor Planet Center for follow-up observations with larger, narrower-field telescopes.

“The extremely wide field of view of the Flyeye telescopes will enable us to scan the night sky for interesting or hazardous objects much quicker than we could before,” said Richard Moissl, the head of planetary defense at ESA.

Flyeye’s first light

In late 2024, the prototype Flyeye, built by OHB Italia, achieved “first light” at the Italian Space Agency’s Space Geodesy Center near Matera. Test images confirmed that all 16 optical channels are aligned, and the software pipeline is operational.

“The earlier we spot potentially hazardous asteroids, the more time we have to assess them and, if necessary, prepare a response,” Moissl said. “ESA’s Flyeye telescopes will be an early-warning system, and their discoveries will be shared with the global planetary defence community.”

The milestone ends the development phase that began in 2016 when ESA signed a contract with a European consortium led by OHB. Next, the over 8,800 pound (4,000 kilogram) instrument will be disassembled, packed, and hauled 559 miles (900 kilometers) south to Sicily.

The new home base

Perched at over 6,100 feet (1,865 meters) in Sicily’s Madonie Natural Park, Monte Mufara offers dark skies, dry air, and a symbolic pedigree. Just a few kilometers away, Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first asteroid Ceres in 1801.

In 2024 ESA tasked Italy’s EIE Group with constructing an observatory able to withstand seismic tremors, fierce winter winds, and strict environmental rules.

Foundation work began in June 2024; completion is slated for late 2025, precisely when Flyeye-1 is expected to arrive.

Building a telescope swarm

“In the future, a network of up to four Flyeye telescopes spread across the northern and southern hemispheres will work together to further improve the speed and completeness of these automatic sky surveys,” said ESA’s Ernesto Doelling, the Flyeye project manager.

Flyeye-2 is already on the drawing board. Scheduled for the southern hemisphere in 2028, the upgraded model will keep its wide view but detect dimmer asteroids sooner. Together, the northern- and southern-hemisphere telescopes will give Europe 24-hour, all-sky coverage.

“We are working to ensure that Europe has the capability to detect hazardous asteroids larger than roughly 40 m a few weeks before a potential impact,” said Holger Krag, the head of ESA’s Space Safety program.

Scientists point out such lead time is critical. An object 131 feet (40 meters) wide is on the scale of the Chelyabinsk meteor. It exploded over Russia in 2013, shattering windows and injuring 1,500 people.

Flyeye’s nightly operations

Every night, Flyeye’s scheduler will weigh Moon phase, weather forecasts, and the coverage provided by other surveys – NASA-funded ATLAS, the Zwicky Transient Facility, and, soon, the Vera Rubin Observatory.

The goal is to maximize sky coverage while minimizing duplication. Any suspicious speck recorded by Flyeye prompts an automated alert; human astronomers then refine its orbit.

If subsequent data suggest even a slim possibility of impact, the object moves onto international risk lists, and mitigation planning can begin.

A planetary defense effort

The Flyeye concept does more than give Europe autonomous sky-watching capability; it plugs straight into a global safety net.

Once NEOCC confirms a discovery, the data flow to the Minor Planet Center and out to observatories worldwide. Within hours, astronomers on several continents can arc a slew of powerful telescopes toward the newcomer.

“Insect-style” telescopes cannot replace deep, narrow-field giants, but they excel at first detection – seeing the forest before the trees. By spotting a faint, distant rock, Flyeye buys time to calculate odds, plan missions, or issue warnings.

Watching the skies, protecting the Earth

From Matera to Sicily – and soon globally – ESA’s Flyeye telescopes aim to revolutionize planetary defense.

The technology merges biological inspiration with cutting-edge optics and embraces automation without losing the critical human touch. The ultimate goal is to spot city-killer asteroids long before they enter Earth’s neighborhood.

“The unique optical design of the Flyeye telescope is optimized for conducting large sky surveys while maintaining high image quality throughout the wide field of view,” Aceti said.

In the coming years that design will be humanity’s compound eye: a vigilant, sleepless gaze ensuring that our planet’s next close encounter is a well-predicted one.

Image Credit: ESA/Pietro Moliterni

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