ESA - Planetary Defence - Archive

ESA title

Hera's instruments on its top 'asteroid deck'

Deep space software upgrade for Hera’s asteroid visit

08/07/2026 2165 views 37 likes

Don Quijote CubeSat around Dimorphos asteroid

Surface CubeSat contracted for Ramses asteroid mission

02/07/2026 2360 views 34 likes

Asteroid Day & eight other key dates in asteroid history

30/06/2026 2191 views 32 likes

Ramses central tube in cleanroom

Backbone of Ramses asteroid mission stands tall

25/06/2026 667 views 8 likes

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

07/05/2026 6060 views 70 likes

Hera approaching Didymos asteroids

Hera on course for asteroid rendezvous

17/03/2026 4855 views 77 likes

ESA analysing fireball over Europe on 8 March 2026

09/03/2026 24683 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 11851 views 57 likes

ESA awards contracts for Ramses mission to Apophis

10/02/2026 4455 views 44 likes

ESA's Planetary Defence team

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

13/01/2026 2981 views 33 likes

Observation of 40 000 near-Earth Asteroids

40 000 near-Earth asteroids discovered!

20/11/2025 6151 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 153980 views 217 likes

ESA’s Hera targets early arrival at Didymos asteroids

07/10/2025 3225 views 14 likes

French meteorite challenges asteroid hazard models

02/10/2025 2148 views 14 likes

ESA's Ramses mission at the asteroid Apophis

ESA and JAXA advance potential Apophis mission collaboration

27/08/2025 4947 views 63 likes

Asteroid (18805) Kellyday

First asteroid sightings push Hera’s camera to the limit

06/08/2025 6208 views 63 likes

ESA observes interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

ESA tracks rare interstellar comet

03/07/2025 82820 views 503 likes

Flyeye's view of the Andromeda galaxy

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

05/06/2025 8868 views 89 likes

Ramses mission patch

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

20/05/2025 4776 views 71 likes

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

Hera’s incredible adventures in brick building

13/03/2025 3817 views 32 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 25263 views 140 likes

Hera swings by Mars

Watch live: Images from Hera’s Mars flyby

10/03/2025 28383 views 119 likes

Ramses mission patch

First CubeSat joins ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

05/03/2025 6053 views 52 likes

Asteroid 2024 YR4 impact risk rises and falls

Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer poses significant impact risk

25/02/2025 30732 views 89 likes

Near-Earth objects

ESA endorses Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defen…

07/02/2025 9881 views 66 likes

Asteroid - artist's impression

ESA actively monitoring near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4

29/01/2025 192744 views 145 likes

Hera fires its thrusters

Enabling & Support

Hera burns towards Mars

08/11/2024 5805 views 65 likes

ESA's Ramses mission to asteroid Apophis

ESA moves forward with Apophis mission preparations

17/10/2024 14571 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 15661 views 140 likes

Members of the Hera operations team on launch day

Hera takes flight: Didymos, here we come

10/10/2024 5352 views 54 likes

Planetary defence mission Hera heading for deflected astero…

07/10/2024 17055 views 44 likes

Hera launch animation still

Hera launch: how to watch

04/10/2024 22177 views 92 likes

ESA’s final observations of asteroid 2024 RW1

Asteroid 2024 RW1 impact – ESA analysis

09/09/2024 7602 views 18 likes

Debris from DART impact could reach Earth

06/09/2024 10164 views 50 likes

Hera departs ESA test centre

Goodbye Hera: asteroid mission departs ESA test centre

02/09/2024 3129 views 19 likes

Near-Earth objects

Two large asteroids safely pass Earth just 42 hours apart

24/06/2024 43385 views 44 likes

Meteor seen by Meteosat Third Generation Imager

Fireball witnessed by weather satellite

22/05/2024 5872 views 27 likes

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks

‘Mother of Dragons’ comet visible in the night sky

26/03/2024 191267 views 124 likes

Chelyabinsk asteroid trail

10 years preparing for 'Armageddon'

08/02/2024 6777 views 45 likes

Asteroid 2024 BX1 tracked prior to impact

Asteroid 2024 BX1 spotted three hours before impact

25/01/2024 9981 views 26 likes

Juventas studies asteroid's internal structure

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

10/08/2023 6111 views 66 likes

Hubble sees boulders escaping from asteroid Dimorphos

Science & Exploration

Hubble sees boulders escaping from asteroid Dimorphos

20/07/2023 11308 views 123 likes

Dimorphos asteroid seen by DART

Imagine walking on Hera’s asteroid

30/06/2023 5060 views 78 likes

Hera and its CubeSats at Didymos system

Precision deployer to put Hera’s CubeSats into asteroid orb…

29/06/2023 4088 views 41 likes

GRASS gravimeter on shaker

Instrument to measure asteroid gravity tested for space

22/05/2023 6980 views 66 likes

Hera, her CubeSats, and their rocky target

What colour is an asteroid? Hyperspectral imager to find out

24/04/2023 3373 views 44 likes

Science & Exploration

Webb detects extremely small main-belt asteroid

06/02/2023 13519 views 125 likes

Curious comet’s rare close approach

01/02/2023 36136 views 243 likes

Artist's impression of asteroid 21 Lutetia

Christmas challenge: find mystery asteroid

09/12/2022 11193 views 52 likes

Time-lapse photograph of 2022 WJ1 taken by astronomer Robert Weryk in Ontario, Canada

The sixth asteroid impact we saw coming

24/11/2022 61825 views 142 likes

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