Ramses (spacecraft)

Ramses

Mission insignia
Mission type	Asteroid probe
Operator	ESA, JAXA
Start of mission
Launch date	2028

Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) is a proposed European-Japanese mission to a near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis, led by the European Space Agency (ESA). If approved, it is expected to be launched within a window running from mid April to mid May 2028 and to arrive at Apophis in February 2029 before its closest approach to Earth. ^{[1] [2]} It will conduct multiple measurements of the asteroid's properties, to study possible response in case such an asteroid would be on a collision course with Earth. ^{[3] [4] [5]} At the asteroid, Ramses will deploy two smaller CubeSats. ^[6]

The close approach of the asteroid Apophis to the Earth and Moon on Friday, April 13, 2029

Animation of Ramses's proposed trajectory from April 2028 to March 2030
   Ramses ·   Earth  ·   99942 Apophis  ·   Sun

Background

The Ramses mission will leverage much of the technology developed for the Hera mission. ^[7] The decision whether to approve the mission is expected to take place at ESA’s Ministerial Council Meeting in November 2025. ^[4]

CubeSats

The first selected CubeSat will be built by Tyvak International (Italy), a company that developed the Milani CubeSat for the Hera mission. The small spacecraft will combine the dust analyser of Milani with the low-frequency radar of Juventas, another CubeSat of Hera. The dust analyser will study material released from the surface of Apophis and the radar will investigate the asteroid's internal structure. ^[6]

The second CubeSat, being developed by a consortium led by Emxys (Spain), will attempt landing on Apophis. Its main task will be to provide high resolution imagery of the asteroid's surface from a distance of just a few kilometres. ^{[8] [9]} If the landing is successful, the CubeSat will also measure the asteroid's seismic activity during its exceptionally close flyby of Earth. Emxys previously contributed to the GRASS gravimeter on Hera's Juventas CubeSat. ^[10]

Timeline

• In July 2024, ESA’s Space Safety programme has received permission to begin preparatory work for Ramses. ^[11] The project has been awarded 1.5 million euros for the preparations. ^[10]
• In October 2024, ESA signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA for preliminary work on the mission ^[12] and unveiled the official mission patch. ^[13] A funding decision is expected to be made in late 2025 at the ESA Ministerial Council. ^{[14] [15]}
• In March 2025, ESA has selected the first of two CubeSats to fly onboard Ramses. At that time, the mission team was considering whether the second CubeSat could be a lander that would touch down on Apophis. ^[6]
• In April 2025, ESA has selected the Spanish company Emxys to build the second CubeSat, intended to land on Apophis, ^[8] and GomSpace (Denmark) to provide system engineering support for the lander cubesat project. ^[9]
• In August 2025, JAXA has made an official funding request to the Government of Japan to participate in the mission. JAXA plans to contribute the probe's solar arrays, infrared imager, and a rideshare launch on the H3 rocket. ^[16]

See also

• List of European Space Agency programmes and missions

References

1. "Ramses: ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 2 September 2025.
2. Patrick Michel (24 June 2025). The RAMSES mission of the European Space Agency: rendezvous with the asteroid Apophis . Retrieved 26 August 2025– via YouTube.
3. Morelli, Andrea C.; Mannocchi, Alessandra; et al. (September 2023). "Initial Trajectory Assessment of the RAMSES Mission to (99942) Apophis". arXiv: 2309.00435 [astro-ph.EP].
4. "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
5. Bartels, Meghan. "Europe Announces New Mission to Infamous Asteroid Apophis". Scientific American. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
6. "First CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
7. "Ramses: ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
8. Aeroespacial, Actualidad (8 May 2025). "EMXYS desarrollará un Cubesat para explorar el asteroide Apophis". Actualidad Aeroespacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2025.
9. GomSpace joins ESA's RAMSES mission to enhance planetary defense through advanced cubesat technology.
10. "Second CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
11. "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
12. "IAC 2024 - Ramses contract signature". www.esa.int. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
13. "Ramses mission patch". www.esa.int. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
14. "ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations". ESA . 17 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
15. Parsonson, Andrew (18 October 2024). "ESA Awards OHB a €63M Contract for Ramses Planetary Defence Mission". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
16. "ESA and JAXA advance potential Apophis mission collaboration". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 August 2025.