On its way to the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid system, ESA's Hera mission is set to perform a Mars flyby on March 12th 2025. This manoeuvre will bring the Hera probe within approximately 5000 km of the red planet and at some 300 km of Deimos, one of Mars’ two moons. The gravity of Mars will alter the spacecraft’s trajectory, reducing travel time by several months while saving a significant amount of fuel. What’s more: the swingby will serve as the first scientific use of Hera’s instruments that will capture images of Deimos. As Hera moves away from Mars, it will also have the opportunity to get a glimpse of Phobos, the planet’s other moon.           
→          Watch the image release on March 13th, starting at 11:50 CET

Hera is part of Europe’s planetary defence strategy, following up on NASA’s DART mission, which successfully altered the orbit of the Dimorphos asteroid in 2022. Hera will reach its final target in December 2026 in order to conduct a detailed post-impact analysis, helping scientists better understand the effects of asteroid deflection strategies, gain more insight into the structure and composition of asteroids, and to test innovative inter-satellite link technology.

SPACEBEL has been playing a significant role in Hera’s mission by engineering software solutions with regard to on-board, simulation and mission & control systems. SPACEBEL’s involvement in this revolutionary initiative underscores our commitment to contribute to a safe and sustainable planet and inspiring space exploration.