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ARCHIVE CONTENT
04 OCT. 2024
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ESA's Hera asteroid mission is ready for lift-off! Hera is scheduled for launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, today, Monday 7 October, at 16:52 CEST / 15:52 BST.
ESA will livestream the launch on ESA WebTV, ESA YouTube and on ESA’s X, and LinkedIn accounts. Live coverage begins at 16:15 CEST / 15:15 BST. The ESA broadcast programme will feature talks from members of the Hera mission team, planetary defence and asteroid experts, spacecraft operators and more. It will include the SpaceX broadcast of the launch.
Watch live from 16:15 CEST on 7 October
All times in CEST and subject to change at short notice. Times are specific to launch taking place on 7 October and will vary if launch is postponed.
Tune in to follow live: ESA WebTV; ESA on YouTube; ESA on X, ESA on LinkedIn
16:15 – Start of ESA WebTV programme – live from ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany
16:37 – SpaceX live broadcast begins
16:52 – Hera lift-off
18:08 – Hera separates from Falcon 9 launcher: End of SpaceX live broadcast, ESA WebTV programme continues
18:11 – Earliest possible acquisition on the ground of the first signals from the Hera spacecraft
18:27 – Earliest possible completion of solar array deployment
18:30 – End of ESA WebTV programme
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
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Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
About Hera – ESA’s first asteroid mission
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
Beyond launch day
Once launched, Hera will begin a two-year cruise phase. An initial deep space manoeuvre in November 2024 will be followed by a Mars flyby that offers a rare and exciting view of Mars’s moon Deimos in March 2025. A second deep space manoeuvre in February 2026 will line Hera up for arrival at the Didymos binary asteroid system. An ‘impulsive rendezvous’ in October 2026 will bring Hera into the vicinity of the asteroid system for orbit insertion.
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