ESA - Planetary Defence - Archive

ESA title

First switch-on of the Ramses spacecraft

First switch on for ESA-JAXA Ramses asteroid mission

23/09/2026 1286 views 26 likes

An imaginary astronaut's view of the Didymos and Dimorphos asteroids

A hitchhiker’s guide to Hera’s target asteroids

23/09/2026 908 views 29 likes

Hera Space Companion front page

Questions? Ask our Hera Space Companion!

14/09/2026 681 views 17 likes

Hera's dino mascot

Name our dino – ESA’s Hera asteroid mission mascot!

10/09/2026 7222 views 61 likes

Simulation of Deimos impact

Hera's Mars flyby guided impact study of Deimos moon

18/08/2026 3495 views 46 likes

Hera departing Earth

Cruise control: the team guiding Hera to its asteroid

13/08/2026 1275 views 18 likes

Hera surveying Dimorphos

Enabling & Support

Your chance to run software in deep space on ESA's asteroid…

05/08/2026 6593 views 37 likes

MTG-I’s orbit is geostationary

Lightning watch satellites spotted mystery Atlantic fireball

28/07/2026 1478 views 10 likes

NASA's DART impacting asteroid

Enabling & Support

ESA seeks novel concepts for a fast asteroid reconnaissance…

22/07/2026 1659 views 24 likes

Hera's instruments on its top 'asteroid deck'

Deep space software upgrade for Hera’s asteroid visit

08/07/2026 2799 views 45 likes

Don Quijote CubeSat around Dimorphos asteroid

Surface CubeSat contracted for Ramses asteroid mission

02/07/2026 2740 views 37 likes

Asteroid Day & eight other key dates in asteroid history

30/06/2026 2708 views 35 likes

Ramses central tube in cleanroom

Backbone of Ramses asteroid mission stands tall

25/06/2026 829 views 9 likes

ESA and JAXA team up on planetary defence, Ramses mission t…

07/05/2026 6778 views 70 likes

Hera approaching Didymos asteroids

Hera on course for asteroid rendezvous

17/03/2026 5127 views 77 likes

ESA analysing fireball over Europe on 8 March 2026

09/03/2026 25575 views 85 likes

James Webb Space Telescope spots faint asteroid 2024 YR4 - 18 February 2026

Asteroid 2024 YR4 will not impact the Moon

05/03/2026 13069 views 57 likes

ESA awards contracts for Ramses mission to Apophis

10/02/2026 4844 views 44 likes

ESA's Planetary Defence team

10 asteroids named to honour ESA’s role in Planetary Defence

13/01/2026 3184 views 33 likes

Observation of 40 000 near-Earth Asteroids

40 000 near-Earth asteroids discovered!

20/11/2025 6592 views 51 likes

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter observes comet 3I/ATLAS – GIF

ESA pinpoints 3I/ATLAS’s path with data from Mars

14/11/2025 154515 views 217 likes

ESA’s Hera targets early arrival at Didymos asteroids

07/10/2025 3583 views 14 likes

French meteorite challenges asteroid hazard models

02/10/2025 2240 views 14 likes

ESA's Ramses mission at the asteroid Apophis

ESA and JAXA advance potential Apophis mission collaboration

27/08/2025 5077 views 63 likes

Asteroid (18805) Kellyday

First asteroid sightings push Hera’s camera to the limit

06/08/2025 6337 views 63 likes

ESA observes interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

ESA tracks rare interstellar comet

03/07/2025 83607 views 503 likes

Flyeye's view of the Andromeda galaxy

ESA’s new asteroid hunter opens its eye to the sky

05/06/2025 9022 views 89 likes

Ramses mission patch

Second CubeSat joins ESA’s Ramses mission to asteroid Apoph…

20/05/2025 4964 views 71 likes

Cartoon Hera made using LEGO® bricks, designed by Frans Snik

Hera’s incredible adventures in brick building

13/03/2025 4165 views 33 likes

Sir Brian May and the rest of Hera's science team see Mars image arrive

Hera asteroid mission spies Mars’s Deimos moon

13/03/2025 25670 views 140 likes

Hera swings by Mars

Watch live: Images from Hera’s Mars flyby

10/03/2025 28497 views 119 likes

Ramses mission patch

First CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

05/03/2025 6208 views 53 likes

Asteroid 2024 YR4 impact risk rises and falls

Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer poses significant impact risk

25/02/2025 31450 views 89 likes

Near-Earth objects

ESA endorses Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defen…

07/02/2025 10217 views 67 likes

Asteroid - artist's impression

ESA actively monitoring near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4

29/01/2025 193267 views 145 likes

Hera fires its thrusters

Enabling & Support

Hera burns towards Mars

08/11/2024 5902 views 65 likes

ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations

17/10/2024 14732 views 128 likes

Hera's first images (Asteroid Framing Camera - Earth)

Hera’s first images offer parting glimpse of Earth and Moon

14/10/2024 15804 views 141 likes

Members of the Hera operations team on launch day

Hera takes flight: Didymos, here we come

10/10/2024 5450 views 54 likes

Planetary defence mission Hera heading for deflected astero…

07/10/2024 17198 views 44 likes

Hera launch animation still

Hera launch: how to watch

04/10/2024 22307 views 93 likes

ESA’s final observations of asteroid 2024 RW1

Asteroid 2024 RW1 impact – ESA analysis

09/09/2024 7856 views 18 likes

Debris from DART impact could reach Earth

06/09/2024 10300 views 50 likes

Hera departs ESA test centre

Goodbye Hera: asteroid mission departs ESA test centre

02/09/2024 3191 views 19 likes

Near-Earth objects

Two large asteroids safely pass Earth just 42 hours apart

24/06/2024 43623 views 44 likes

Meteor seen by Meteosat Third Generation Imager

Fireball witnessed by weather satellite

22/05/2024 6016 views 27 likes

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

‘Mother of Dragons’ comet visible in the night sky

26/03/2024 191622 views 124 likes

Chelyabinsk asteroid trail

10 years preparing for 'Armageddon'

08/02/2024 6940 views 45 likes

Asteroid 2024 BX1 tracked prior to impact

Asteroid 2024 BX1 spotted three hours before impact

25/01/2024 10149 views 26 likes

Juventas studies asteroid's internal structure

Hera’s mini-radar will probe asteroid’s heart

10/08/2023 6179 views 66 likes

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