ESA’s Hera Mission Conducted Obligatory Manoeuvres On Its Way To Didymos

ESA’s Hera mission was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA. The spacecraft is heading toward the Dimorphos and Didymos asteroid system. This planetary defense mission will study the aftermath of NASA’s DART impact, advancing asteroid deflection technology.

Hera’s Necessary Manoeuvres

Updated on 22nd November

Hera mission has completed key manoeuvres to adjust its course toward the Didymos binary asteroid system, using Mars’ gravity to speed up its journey.

On 23 October, Hera fired its three orbital control thrusters for 100 minutes, performing its first deep-space manoeuvre and altering its speed by about 146 m/s. This was followed by a shorter burn on 6 November, lasting 13 minutes, which added another 20 m/s to its velocity.

The team relied on the ESA’s deep-space radio dishes in Spain, Argentina, and Australia to track Hera during the manoeuvres and accurately measure its velocity changes before and after each burn.

Hera Mission Successfully Launched

On Monday, 7 October, at 10:52 a.m. ET, the Hera mission and a pair of CubeSat satellites successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This marks the first Falcon 9 flight since a rocket from the same series encountered an issue during NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission on 29 September.

Goldstone station in California has received the satellite’s first signals from space. “Telemetry is arriving loud and clear at ESA mission control in Germany”, ESA reports on X.

The mission will reach the asteroid Dimorphos and its larger companion, Didymos, in late 2026. Hera will examine the aftermath of NASA’s DART mission, which deliberately crashed into Dimorphos two years ago, successfully changing its orbit.

What Is This Mission About?

What should we do if a potentially hazardous space object is heading towards Earth? Is there a way to save our planet? Hera mission aims to help answer these questions. It is ESA’s planetary defence mission, forming part of a larger international programme known as the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA) collaboration.

In the first phase of AIDA, on 26 September 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission impacted the Dimorphos asteroid to change its orbit around the larger Didymos asteroid. 

The next step is the Hera mission, which will visit this Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by DART and perform a detailed post-impact survey of the target asteroid.

Once launched in October 2024, Hera will begin a two year cruise phase. In March 2025, Hera will be approaching Mars and its moon Deimos. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will bring Hera on course to the Didymos system. In October 2026 Hera is expected to enter the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion. On the day Hera reaches Didymos it will be 195 million kilometres away from Earth.

How To Watch Hera Mission Launch Live Broadcast?

On 3 October, Hera was encapsulated within its Falcon 9 launcher fairing in preparation to be attached to its launcher.

The launch of ESA’s Hera mission is planned for 5:30 pm ET (2130 UTC). The FAA authorized the launch on Sunday: “The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle is authorized to return to flight only for the planned Hera mission scheduled to launch on October 7 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.”

ESA will cover the launch on WebTV, YouTube channel and on X, and LinkedIn accounts. 

Watch the Hera mission live broadcast here:

For more details, visit this link.