ESA - Hera

ESA title

As part of the world’s first test of asteroid deflection, Hera will perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid, Dimorphos – the orbiting moonlet of a binary asteroid system known as Didymos. Now that NASA’s DART mission has impacted the moonlet, Hera will turn the grand-scale experiment into a well-understood and repeatable planetary defence technique. Demonstrating new technologies from autonomous navigation around an asteroid to low gravity proximity operations, Hera will be humankind’s first probe to rendezvous with a binary asteroid system and Europe’s flagship Planetary Defender.

Hera Launch: October 2024

Target: Dimorphos

Hera rendezvous: December 2026

1081 kg launch mass
12 Hera payloads
2 Hera CubeSats
151 m target asteroid

Hera

Planetary defence mission Hera heading for deflected astero…

07/10/2024 10568 views 31 likes

Hera launch animation still

Hera launch: how to watch

04/10/2024 18503 views 88 likes

Milani CubeSat deployed from Hera asteroid mission

Hera deploying its CubeSats

How ESA's asteroid mission will send its two tiny counterparts into space

Hera approaching Didymos asteroids

Hera videos

Video resources for the mission

Hera mission patch

Hera Frequently Asked Questions

2196 views 11 likes

Hera Science Team

Hera Science Team

759 views 4 likes

Hera Launch Kit

Hera asteroid mission launch kit

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Debris from DART impact could reach Earth

06/09/2024 8125 views 47 likes

Hera departs ESA test centre

Goodbye Hera: asteroid mission departs ESA test centre

02/09/2024 1880 views 19 likes

Hera glides past Didymos to Dimorphos

Glimpses of Hera’s target asteroids inspire new science

31/07/2024 3577 views 51 likes

Hera inter-satellite link with Juventas CubeSat

Hera spacecraft trio to fly safe with inter-linked radio

24/07/2024 1299 views 3 likes

ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

Introducing Ramses, ESA’s mission to asteroid Apophis

16/07/2024 22628 views 135 likes

Hera approaching Didymos asteroids

NASA selects US scientists to join ESA’s Hera mission

28/06/2024 872 views 1 likes

Hera's control team visits the spacecraft inside its cleanroom

Countdown to Hera: launch campaign begins at ESOC

27/06/2024 2482 views 24 likes

Hera and CubeSats in Maxwell chamber

Hera and its CubeSats speak with mission control

13/06/2024 2259 views 11 likes

Hera spacecraft

Enabling & Support

Hera operations

1003 views 8 likes

Hera approaches Dimorphos

Virtual flying lessons for Hera asteroid mission

29/05/2024 2654 views 8 likes

Hera glides past Didymos to Dimorphos

Hera engineering data

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Hera swings by Mars

Hera asteroid mission’s side-trip to Mars

25/04/2024 3045 views 34 likes

Hera media kit

Hera media kit

Hera scans DART’s impact crater

Hera spacecraft images

Artist renderings

Hera’s wings of power

Hera images

Photos and renderings of the mission

Hera's instruments on its top 'asteroid deck'

Hera B-roll footage

Video animations for media

Juventas CubeSat deployment

Radar journey to centre of Hera’s asteroid with Juventas Cu…

27/03/2024 2602 views 10 likes

Milani CubeSat deployed from Hera asteroid mission

Shoebox-sized Milani CubeSat joining Hera asteroid mission

14/03/2024 2703 views 19 likes

Simulation of DART's impact on Dimorphos

DART impact might have reshaped Hera's target asteroid

26/02/2024 4765 views 45 likes

Milani patch contest

Design the patch for Hera’s Milani CubeSat

13/12/2023 4836 views 35 likes

Hera networking with CubeSats

Enabling & Support

CubeSats deployer flight model now integrated to Hera

05/12/2023 967 views 20 likes

Hera, her CubeSats, and their rocky target destination

Small but mighty companies working on ESA’s planetary defen…

29/11/2023 1924 views 37 likes

Hera inside the LEAF acoustic chamber

Hera asteroid mission hears the noise

10/11/2023 4895 views 55 likes

Hera's Core Module lowered onto Propulsion Module

Hera asteroid spacecraft assembled

24/08/2023 5300 views 54 likes

Juventas studies asteroid's internal structure

Hera’s mini-radar will probe asteroid’s heart

10/08/2023 4622 views 65 likes

Hubble sees boulders escaping from asteroid Dimorphos

Science & Exploration

Hubble sees boulders escaping from asteroid Dimorphos

20/07/2023 10606 views 121 likes

Dimorphos asteroid seen by DART

Imagine walking on Hera’s asteroid

30/06/2023 4393 views 78 likes

Hera and its CubeSats at Didymos system

Precision deployer to put Hera’s CubeSats into asteroid orb…

29/06/2023 3056 views 41 likes

GRASS gravimeter on shaker

Instrument to measure asteroid gravity tested for space

22/05/2023 5784 views 66 likes

Hera, her CubeSats, and their rocky target destination

What colour is an asteroid? Hyperspectral imager to find out

24/04/2023 2986 views 44 likes

Science & Exploration

Hubble captures movie of DART asteroid impact debris

01/03/2023 9796 views 76 likes

Hera, her CubeSats, and their rocky target destination

Eyes on Hera: Asteroid mission’s cameras ready

23/02/2023 7271 views 110 likes

LICIACube image of asteroid ejecta

First kinetic impact test succeeds in shifting asteroid orb…

12/10/2022 5515 views 55 likes

Science & Exploration

Webb and Hubble capture detailed views of DART impact

29/09/2022 12653 views 116 likes

DART's moment of impact

Hera team congratulates NASA asteroid impactors

27/09/2022 8502 views 85 likes

Plume ejects from Dimorphos as DART impacts

ESA to capture light from deflected asteroid’s new plume

26/09/2022 24798 views 79 likes

DART impacting asteroid

ESA deep space network tracks DART asteroid impact

20/09/2022 14741 views 104 likes

More items

Space Safety
Talking to the team
Open
Space Safety
Video: Steering Hera
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Space Safety
Asteroid mission on high
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Space Safety
Video: ESA defending Earth
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Space Safety
Showing support
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ESA's planetary defence mission

Mission goals

Planetary defence Technology demonstration Bonus science

In depth

Hera Target asteroid Facts and figures Hera engineering data Hera operations Hera Science Team From 2022 to 2026: a question of time Hera goodies in the ESA Shop Spacecraft Fault detection, isolation and recovery Hera's Asteroid Deck and instruments Deep space CubeSats Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration DART The story so far Hera images