The European Commission and ESA’s Planetary Defence Office together are organising the “EU–ESA Workshop on Astrometric and Radar Observations of Near-Earth Objects” on 6–8 October 2025 at the European Space Research Institute (ESRIN) in Frascati, Italy.

The meeting's purpose is to gather the asteroid community to discuss how we can improve the quality and reliability of astrometric and radar observations of near-Earth objects, with a particular focus on orbit determination and uncertainty modelling. During this workshop, we will review how astrometric uncertainties—both positional and timing—are currently treated, examine the mathematical and practical approaches for their estimation, and assess how they propagate into orbital solutions. Special emphasis will be placed on synthetic tracking, emerging detector technologies, and the integration of radar data into orbit determination workflows. Current and potential future radar European capabilities will also be discussed.

By convening the community, we aim to formulate suggestions, guidelines, and actions for improving the robustness of observational data used for planetary defence. The goal is to ensure that, should a hazardous object be detected on a possible collision course with Earth, we can rely on high-quality astrometric and radar data for timely and accurate impact risk assessments.

A link to the event web portal can be found here.

The workshop sessions are the following:

• Orbit determination and uncertainty propagation
• Astrometric observations and timing precision
• Radar observations and integration in astrometric pipelines
• Synthetic tracking and AI-based techniques
• Non-traditional astrometry: occultations, Gaia, and space-based assets
• Prospects for future radar facilities

Workshop presentations have been organised by invitation of relevant speakers. Speakers and interested participants are invited to register to the event up to 30 September 2025. Ample slots have been allocated in the programme to allow discussions between the experts. A limited number of presentation slots are still available. If a workshop attendee considers having a relevant contribution in the subject and would like to present it at the workshop, please send a message to the organisers with a proposed title and abstract (maximum of 300 words) before 15 August 2025. The workshop will be hybrid, with local and remote attendance possible. A limited capacity of up to 40 people will be available for local attendance to the event. These will be available to the speakers wanting to attend in person and on a first come, first served for the rest of attendees.