10.01.2023

Update on Hera, Europe's Planetary Defence Mission

2022 has been a remarkable year for ESA’s Hera project with a multitude of notable achievements at various levels.

Due to be launched late 2024 to Dimorphos – the moonlet of the Didymos binary asteroid system – successfully deflected by NASA’s DART probe in September 2022, Hera and its cubesats Milani and Juventas will closely observe the celestial body to perform a detailed post-impact survey in the context of a future planetary defence technique.

A highly challenging initiative in which SPACEBEL is greatly involved with several major contracts:

  • Hera’s flight software, called central software;
  • An impressive series of simulation software;
  • The Cubesat Mission Operations Centre (CMOC) development.

Our contributions have recently been highlighted in the Belgian press:

To promote this groundbreaking Hera mission and inspire and prepare for new generations of scientists and engineers, ESA has issued a series of cartoons available in 5 languages:

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2021/11/The_Incredible_Adventures_of_the_Hera_mission_The_curious_case_of_the_missing_planet

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2021/06/The_Incredible_Adventures_of_the_Hera_mission_Presenting_Hera

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2022/09/The_incredible_adventures_of_the_Hera_mission_Creating_a_crater

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2022/10/The_Incredible_Adventures_of_the_Hera_mission_Tales_of_Terrific_Technology

Enjoy ;-) ! 

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new illustration Update on Hera, Europe's Planetary Defence Mission

©OHB & ESA Science Office