WASHINGTON — A privately funded space telescope originally proposed to search for larger near-Earth asteroids may also be effective in detecting smaller, but more numerous and potentially more dangerous, such objects.

In a presentation at the International Academy of Astronautics’ Planetary Defense Conference in Frascati, Italy, on April 13, a B612 Foundation official said its proposed Sentinel space telescope could detect up to 80 percent of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs) at least 40 meters in diameter within 10 years of launch.

That detection rate, said mission director Harold Reitsema, is possible if Sentinel works in parallel with a ground-based telescope, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), now under construction.

“It’s a number that I would not have thought was possible, and certainly would not be possible without both Sentinel and LSST,” he said.

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