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\t\t\t\t\t\t17\/10\/2024<\/span> ESA has signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA worth \u20ac63 million to begin preparatory work on the Agency\u2019s proposed Ramses mission to the infamous asteroid Apophis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On 13 April 2029, the 375 m\u00a0asteroid Apophis\u00a0will pass within 32 000 km of Earth\u2019s surface \u2013 less than one tenth of the distance from Earth to the Moon. This extremely rare natural phenomenon will draw the attention of the entire world and offer a unique opportunity for scientific and planetary defence research.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n During the flyby, strong tidal forces will strain the asteroid and likely reveal new material from beneath the surface. A spacecraft at Apophis could observe these changes and teach scientists a lot about the asteroid\u2019s composition and structure, as well as how an asteroid responds to external forces. We must understand these properties if we ever hope to be capable of knocking a hazardous asteroid off a collision course with Earth.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n ESA will propose such a mission for approval and funding at its next Ministerial Council Meeting in 2025 as the next Planetary Defence mission in its Space Safety\u00a0Programme. The spacecraft will be based on an adaptation of Hera, ESA\u2019s first asteroid mission, which successfully launched on 7 October 2024.<\/p>\n However, the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) would need to launch in early 2028 in order to arrive at Apophis in time to study it as it passes Earth. Therefore, in July 2024,\u00a0ESA\u2019s Member States approved the use of existing Agency funds to begin preparatory work on the mission\u2019s Consolidation \/ Early Implementation phase.<\/p>\n This work will ensure that, if the Ramses mission receives full support in 2025, its implementation is feasible within this very strict timeline.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n The funds were made available via ESA\u2019s General Support Technology Programme and Space Safety Programme, and\u00a0ESA,\u00a0industry and all relevant stakeholders have worked together tirelessly to minimise the time required to convert the funds into a contract.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n On Thursday 17 October, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and OHB Italia\u00a0Managing Director Roberto Aceti signed a contract worth \u20ac63 million at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Milan that will enable the work to begin.<\/p>\n The funds will be used to begin the procurement process for certain time-critical or\u00a0long-lead equipment, as well as to finalise the overall design of the spacecraft while considering the opportunities for international cooperation currently under discussion.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cBy developing and launching the Hera mission on time and under budget, we have demonstrated that ESA and its industrial and scientific partners can meet the challenging deadlines required by asteroid missions,\u201d says ESA\u2019s Paolo Martino, who is overseeing the work.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Ramses we are raising the bar even further, so we need to act now to ensure that, if our Member States decide to support the mission in 2025, we can hit the ground running and reach Apophis in time.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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