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For Further InformationESA and JAXA's Ramses must launch by spring 2028 to meet Apophis before its 2029 Earth pass. Its €81.2 million build contract was signed in February 2026.
Image: ESA.
Last reviewed: 2 sources cited
A spacecraft with two CubeSats that will study Apophis before, during and after its Earth pass.
Source: ESA, Ramses contracts
Contract signed February 10, 2026; first switch-on September 2026; launch by spring 2028.
Source: ESA, Ramses contracts
Source: ESA, First switch-on for Ramses
Asteroid Apophis, which passes Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.
Source: ESA, First switch-on for Ramses
To understand asteroids' physical properties and behaviour and strengthen planetary defense.
Source: ESA, Ramses contracts
Agency solution · active (in development, contracted)
ESA's Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety, Ramses, will rendezvous with Apophis before its rare close encounter with Earth. ESA signed the €81.2 million build contract with OHB Italia on February 10, 2026, and the spacecraft was switched on for the first time in September 2026. It must reach space by spring 2028 on a Japanese H3 rocket. JAXA contributes the solar arrays and a thermal A kind of light our eyes can't see that we feel as heat. Special cameras use it to see warm objects and gases. Glossary imager.
Source: ESA, Ramses contracts
Source: ESA, First switch-on for Ramses
Building on Hera, Ramses strengthens international cooperation and Europe's planetary defense capabilities.
Want to go deeper? ESA, Ramses contracts has the full story and the latest updates.
For Further InformationMore solutions like this one, matched by meaning.
Sources are listed with each fact in the Five W's above.
APA
Saving Planets. (n.d.). Ramses (ESA / JAXA). https://www.savingplanets.com/Ramses.html
MLA
"Ramses (ESA / JAXA)." Saving Planets, https://www.savingplanets.com/Ramses.html.
