Fair enough! I probably wasn’t clear—what I had in mind was one country detecting an asteroid first, then deflecting it into Earth before any other country/‘the global community’ detects it. Just recently we detected a 1.5 km near Earth object that has an orbit which intersects with Earth. The scenario I had in mind was that one country detects this (but probably a smaller one ~50 m) first, then deflects it.
We detect ~50 m asteroids as they make their final approach to Earth all the time, so detecting one first by chance could be a strategic advantage.
Fair enough! I probably wasn’t clear—what I had in mind was one country detecting an asteroid first, then deflecting it into Earth before any other country/‘the global community’ detects it. Just recently we detected a 1.5 km near Earth object that has an orbit which intersects with Earth. The scenario I had in mind was that one country detects this (but probably a smaller one ~50 m) first, then deflects it.
We detect ~50 m asteroids as they make their final approach to Earth all the time, so detecting one first by chance could be a strategic advantage.
I take your other points, though.