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:
- Newsletter Regional-IT : SPACEBEL au cœur de la future mission spatiale Hera
- Magazine WAB : SPACEBEL Sets Course for Dimorphos
- Revue W+B : Innovation : La Wallonie, acteur majeur dans le domaine spatial et aéronautique - Focus sur SPACEBEL (p. 46-49)
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:
Enjoy ;-) !
©OHB & ESA Science Office