Ramses (spacecraft)

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Ramses
Ramses space mission insignia.png
Mission insignia
Mission type Asteroid probe
Operator ESA, JAXA
Website www.ramsesmission.space
Start of mission
Launch date2028
Rocket H3

Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) is a future European-Japanese planetary defense mission to the near-Earth asteroid (99942) Apophis, led by the European Space Agency (ESA). It is expected to be launched between mid April and mid May 2028 and to arrive at Apophis in February 2029 before its closest approach to Earth. [1] [2] It will conduct measurements of the asteroid's properties before and during the Earth flyby to study its response to the close encounter with the planet. [3] [4] [5] At the asteroid, Ramses will deploy two smaller CubeSats. [6] Ramses will leverage much of the technology developed for the Hera mission. [7]

Contents

Project history

In July 2024, ESA's Space Safety Programme has received permission to begin preparatory work for Ramses. [8] The project has been awarded 1.5 million euros for the preparations [9] and in October 2024, ESA signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA for preliminary work on the mission. [10] [11] ESA also unveiled the official mission patch. [12] In July 2024, India expressed interest on developing an instrument for Ramses. [13] [14] [15] In 2024, DLR proposed including a mini-rover in the Ramses mission: MASCOT3 (or BASTET), similar to the MASCOT rover which flew on Hayabusa2. [16] [17] [18]

In March 2025, ESA has selected the first of two CubeSats to fly onboard Ramses. The mission team revealed that they were 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, indeed intended to land on Apophis, [19] and GomSpace (Denmark) to provide system engineering support for the lander CubeSat project. [20]

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. [21] On the European side, the funding decision was expected to be made in late 2025 at the ESA ministerial council. [22]

Speaking at EPSC-DPS meeting in September 2025, Ramses Project Manager Paolo Martino confirmed that the project was fully on schedule. The Preliminary Design Review had been completed previous year, and the Critical Design Review was expected in November 2025. [23] [24] At the ministerial council in late November 2025, ESA member states approved funding for the mission, together with a substantial increase in the budget of the Space Safety Programme. [25]

In December 2025, OHB Italia signed an agreement with the Belgian company SPACEBEL, already involved in Hera , which will provide the core onboard software for Ramses. [26] [27]

Mission profile

Ramses will launch on a Japanese H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center [28] in April 2028 together with another asteroid probe, the JAXA's DESTINY+ whose mission is to explore the active asteroid Phaethon. This will allow DESTINY+ to perform a flyby of Apophis before Ramses, taking the first space images of the asteroid in preparation of the arrival of Ramses. [29]

Ramses will fly on a 10-months direct transfer trajectory and rendezvous with Apophis no later than 1 March 2029. Both before and after the closest approach to Earth, Ramses will perform global imaging of the asteroid's surface at 10 cm resolution and targeted imaging of selected areas at 1.5 cm resolution. [30] During the Earth flyby, Ramses will keep a safe distance of 5 km from the asteroid while performing observations with high temporal resolution of 1 picture per minute. [30]

Science instruments

The Ramses spacecraft itself will be equipped with eight scientific instruments [31] including two Asteroid Framing Cameras and a Radio Science experiment as in Hera , [32] while other will be mounted on the two accompanying CubeSats, Farinella and Don Quijote. [33]

Instruments on Ramses

CHANCES

The Color High-resolution Apophis Narrow-angle CamEra System (CHANCES) is an imaging instrument capable of capturing the asteroid surface reflectance at different wavelengths to study its physical properties and mineralogical composition. Its role is to record the subtle changes on the asteroid caused by Earth's gravity during the flyby. CHANCES is being developed by the University of Bern. [34]

HAMLET

The HyperScout for Apophis Multispectral Exploration and Taxonomy (HAMLET) is a hyperspectral camera for detailed surface characterization in two spectral channels (650-960 nm and 960-1500 nm). The camera is designed to map the asteroid's mineral and elemental composition as well as various physical properties, including space weathering effects before and after the flyby of Earth. HAMLET is based on the design of the HyperScout-H imager on Hera . The instrument is being developed by Cosine Italia with scientific support from Istituto di Astrofisica e Planetologia Spaziali in Rome and Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte in Naples. [35] [36]

RPS

The RAMSES Plasma Spectrometer (RPS) is a high-resolution spectrometer for measuring charged particles. Its role is to study the plasma environment around Apophis—especially during the pass through Earth's outer radiation belt—and the plasma's interactions with the asteroid's surface. It may also detect the lifting of regolith from the asteroid's surface. RPS is based on a spare model of the Jovian Electron and Ion Sensor, part of the Particle Environment Package on ESA's JUICE spacecraft. It was developed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Göttingen. [33]

TIRI

The Japanese multi-band thermal infrared imager TIRI also flew aboard the Hera spacecraft. It's role is to investigate the thermophysical properties and composition of the asteroid's surface. It uses a wide band (8–14 μm) for thermographic imaging and six narrow bands (7–14 μm) for compositional mapping. TIRI was developed by JAXA as a successor of the single band infrared imager TIR on the Hayabusa2 spacecraft. [29] [37]

Instruments on CubeSats

Radar

The Farinella CubeSat will carry a low-frequency radar operating in monostatic mode derived from the JuRa instrument [38] on Juventas, one of Hera 's CubeSats. [39] The instrument is being developed by Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique, Université Grenoble-Alpes. [40] The radar's miniature antennas are being developed by the Polish company Astronika. [41]

VISTA

The Volatile In-Situ Thermogravimeter Analyser (VISTA), flying aboard Farinella, will analyze dust particles and volatiles in order to monitor various mobilization events of materials from the asteroid's surface caused by tidal forces, rotation, micrometeorite impacts, and spacecraft manoeuvres. It is based on the VISTA instrument of Hera . [42] [43]

MARIE

The MARIE magnetometer, flying aboard the Don Quijote lander, will study the interactions between Apophis and Earth's magnetic field, as well as the distribution of possible magnetisation on the asteroid itself during the lander's approach, landing, and surface operations. The Ramses mission is an earlier-than-expected opportunity for in-space testing of the miniaturized magnetometer technology developed for small satellites as part of the German government's space strategy of 2023. [33]

SIA

The SIA seismometer, developed by ISAE-SUPAERO, [44] will fly aboard the Don Quijote lander. If the landing is successful, SIA will observe how the asteroid's internal structure reacts to the tidal forces during the Earth flyby. It will complement the observations by the low-frequency radar instrument on Farinella. [45] [46]

CubeSats

Farinella

The first selected CubeSat, Farinella, [33] 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, called VISTA, [32] will study material released from the surface of Apophis and the radar will investigate the asteroid's internal structure. [6]

Don Quijote

The second selected CubeSat, Don Quijote, [33] 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. [19] [20] If the landing is successful, Don Quijote will also measure the asteroid's seismic activity and magnetic interactions during its exceptionally close flyby of Earth. Emxys previously contributed to the GRASS gravimeter on Hera's Juventas CubeSat. [9] [33]

See also

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. 1 2 3 "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. ↑ "Introducing Ramses, ESA's mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 19 March 2025.
  9. 1 2 "Second CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis". www.esa.int. Retrieved 20 May 2025.
  10. ↑ Parsonson, Andrew (18 October 2024). "ESA Awards OHB a €63M Contract for Ramses Planetary Defence Mission". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  11. ↑ "IAC 2024 - Ramses contract signature". www.esa.int. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Ramses mission patch". www.esa.int. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  13. ↑ ESA supports work on Apophis mission - SpaceNews
  14. ↑ https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2025/pdf/1917.pdf
  15. ↑ "ISRO in talks with European Space Agency on Ramses mission to track asteroid". The Indian Express. 26 July 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  16. ↑ Lange, Michael; Grundmann, Jan-Thimo; Ho, Tra-Mi; Hühne, Christian; Lange, Caroline; Mierheim, Olaf (September 2024). "A family concept for small body lander structures based on MASCOT". European Conference on Spacecraft Structures, Materials and Environmental Testing 2024. Noordwijk, Niederlande.
  17. ↑ "BASTET – A MASCOT-style Nanolander Investigating the Subsurface of Apophis, Seismicity, and Tidal Forces during Earth Encounter" (PDF). Apophis T-5 Years: Knowledge Opportunity for the Science of Planetary Defense. April 2024.
  18. ↑ "A nanolander for the RAMSES mission: how MASCOT at Apophis can contribute to planetary defense" (PDF). Apophis T-5 Years: Knowledge Opportunity for the Science of Planetary Defense. April 2024.
  19. 1 2 Aeroespacial, Actualidad (8 May 2025). "EMXYS desarrollará un Cubesat para explorar el asteroide Apophis". Actualidad Aeroespacial (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  20. 1 2 GomSpace joins ESA's RAMSES mission to enhance planetary defense through advanced cubesat technology.
  21. ↑ "ESA and JAXA advance potential Apophis mission collaboration". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  22. ↑ "ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations". ESA . 17 October 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  23. ↑ Maglione, Mariasole (10 September 2025). "La missione RAMSES dell'ESA verso l'asteroide Apophis si prepara alla Critical Design Review". AstroSpace (in Italian). Retrieved 10 September 2025.
  24. ↑ Foust, Jeff (9 September 2025). "Ramses asteroid mission on track ahead of key funding".
  25. ↑ "Boost in funding expands Space Safety programme". www.esa.int. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  26. ↑ Software, A7. "SPACEBEL and OHB Italia sign an agreement for the onboard software of ESA's RAMSES mission". Wallonia.be. Retrieved 9 February 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ oanna.be. "SPACEBEL and OHB Italia Sealing Deal for ESA's RAMSES Mission Onboard Software in View of Apophis Asteroid Rendezvous". Spacebel, Space systems and software engineering company. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  28. ↑ "Japan to provide H3 rocket for Europe's mission to observe Apophis asteroid".
  29. 1 2 "Look up: ESA and JAXA to launch the Ramses mission to observe Apophis". Cosmos. 24 December 2025. Archived from the original on 27 December 2025. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
  30. 1 2 "Scenario - Launch - Spacecraft". RAMSES Mission (in French). Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  31. ↑ "A Companion for Near-Earth Asteroid Apophis". www.mps.mpg.de. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  32. 1 2 Lazzarin, Monica; Michel, Patrick; Kueppers, Michael; Green, Simon; Tortora, Paolo; Ulamec, Stephan; Vincent, Jean Baptiste; Abell, Paul; Sugita, Seiji (9 July 2025). RAMSES: A European rendezvous mission to study tidal effects on the Near-Earth Asteroid Apophis during its 2029 close encounter with the Earth (Report). Copernicus Meetings. doi:10.5194/epsc-dps2025-806.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  33. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "RAMSES mission: RPS and MARIE to investigate asteroid Apophis' passage through Earth's magnetosphere". www.dlr.de. 6 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  34. ↑ "University of Bern involved in mission to study the asteroid Apophis". Media Relations. 22 December 2025. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  35. ↑ Boeck, Emmanuel de (25 September 2025). "cosine Italia hosts Preliminary Design Review for HAMLET Spectral Imager on ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis - cosine" . Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  36. ↑ Palomba, Ernesto; Angrisani, Marianna; Corte, Vincenzo Della; Esposito, Marco; Longobardo, Andrea; Dirri, Fabrizio; Gisellu, Chiara; Arpaia, Lavinia; Popescu, Marcel (9 July 2025). Monitoring surface evolution of Apophis during its 2029 Earth flyby: the role of HAMLET on ESA's Ramses Mission (Report). Copernicus Meetings. doi:10.5194/epsc-dps2025-1607.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  37. ↑ Okada, Tatsuaki; Tanaka, Satoshi; Sakatani, Naoya; Shimaki, Yuri; Arai, Takehiko; Senshu, Hiroki; Demura, Hirohide; Sekiguchi, Tomohiko; Kouyama, Toru; Kanamaru, Masanori; Ishizaki, Takuya; Furukawa, Soichiro; Vilardell-Belles, Ramon; Karatekin, Özgür; Blommaert, Joris (1 March 2026). "Thermal infrared imager TIRI onboard Hera and RAMSES missions". Acta Astronautica. 240: 888–892. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2025.12.039. ISSN   0094-5765.
  38. ↑ Herique, Alain; Plettemeier, Dirk; Kofman, Wlodek (6 July 2022). JuRa: the Juventas Radar on Hera to fathom Didymoon (Report). Copernicus Meetings.
  39. ↑ Herique, Alain; Plettemeier, Dirk; Haynes, Mark; Michel, Patrick; Lazzarin, Monica; Raymond, Carol; Kofman, Wlodek; Roger, Yves (9 July 2025). Radar tomography of asteroid deep interior. JuRa / HERA to Didymos and the Radars to Apophis: status of the instruments (Report). Copernicus Meetings.
  40. ↑ "Making sure you're not a bot!". ipag.osug.fr. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  41. ↑ "Polish company to prepare radar antennas for ESA's Ramses mission". Science in Poland. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  42. ↑ Dirri, Fabrizio; Gisellu, Chiara; Palomba, Ernesto; Longobardo, Andrea; Nardi, Enrico; Zampetti, Emiliano; Scaccabarozzi, Diego; Cardi, Margherita (9 July 2025). VISTA Payload for ESA RAMSES Mission (Report). Copernicus Meetings. doi:10.5194/epsc-dps2025-1717.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  43. ↑ RAMSES – Rapid Apophis Mission for SpacE Safety
  44. ↑ Indépendante, L'Opinion. "L'astéroïde Apophis va frôler la Terre en 2029 : l'ISAE-SUPAERO participe à son étude". lopinion.com (in French). Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  45. ↑ "RAMSES: ISAE-SUPAERO at the heart of a historic planetary defense mission - ISAE SUPAERO". www.isae-supaero.fr (in French). 20 January 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  46. ↑ Murdoch, Naomi; Cadu, Alexandre; Garcia, Raphael F.; Sournac, Anthony; Wilhelm, Arnaud; Carpi, Pauline; André, Théo; DeMartini, Joseph; Mimoun, David (9 July 2025). Seismic Instrument for Asteroids (SIA): the RAMSES seismometer (Report). Copernicus Meetings. doi:10.5194/epsc-dps2025-417.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
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