Overview
- ESA and Japan’s JAXA finalized a cooperation agreement for Ramses, a spacecraft that will observe asteroid Apophis during its close pass by Earth in 2029.
- Under the deal, JAXA supplies solar arrays, a thermal infrared imager and an H3 launch, with ESA leading spacecraft design and operations.
- The mission targets a 2028 launch to arrive before Apophis passes about 32,000 kilometers from Earth in April 2029.
- Scientists plan to track landslides, spin shifts and interior stress as Earth’s gravity tugs the roughly 375‑meter asteroid, which poses no impact risk.
- The schedule is tight, with a narrow 2028 window, Hera-derived hardware to speed build, OHB Italia as prime contractor and two CubeSats for close passes, and the flyby could be visible to about two billion people as Ramses provides the only real-time view before NASA’s OSIRIS‑APEX arrives afterward.