Hera is an European Space Agency planetary defense mission with an aim to monitor the efficiency of the first-ever asteroid deflection test.
The target of the Hera mission is a binary asteroid pair, Didymos – Dimorphos. Dimorphos was the first object in the Solar System to have its orbit measurably shifted by humanity when NASA’s DART, Double Asteroid Redirection Test, collided with it in 2022 as an asteroid deflection test. Hera will now go study both asteroids, helping us to evaluate the asteroid deflection efficiency as well as better understand asteroids, impacts and collisions in general. Hera started its approach to Didymos in October 2026 by settling into the mission orbit and will start science observations in early November 2026.
ESA Hera mission timeline infographic.
At Pori Space Lab Prof. Tomáš Kohout is a member of Hera Investigation Team working on first-hand analysis of Hera observations. Tomáš is also principal investigator of ASPECT hyperspectral camera carried by one of Hera’s sub-spacecrafts, the Milani CubeSat, which will be released at the end of January 2027. ASPECT will provide critical information on the composition of the target asteroids and will evaluate any surface changes caused by impact of NASA DART spacecraft.
Hera and its CubeSats at Didymos asteroid system, as rendered by ESA.
You can follow along with the latest Hera updates with European Space Agency’s Hera companion interface:
The European Space Agency’s Hera mission for planetary defence has acquired its first close-up image of the Didymos binary asteroid system! In this image, acquired by Hera’s monochromatic Asteroid Framing Camera from 60 km away, most of the 151-m diameter Dimorphos asteroid is hidden by a shadow, but the 780-m diameter Didymos asteroid that the…
European Space Agency Spacecraft Hera has taken its first images of its targets: the binary asteroids, Didymos and Dimorphos. Hera is an European Space Agency planetary defense mission with an aim to monitor the efficiency of the first-ever asteroid deflection test. The target of the Hera mission is a binary asteroid pair, Didymos – Dimorphos,…
Hera is an European Space Agency planetary defense mission with an aim to monitor the efficiency of the first-ever asteroid deflection test. The target of the Hera mission is a binary asteroid pair, Didymos – Dimorphos. Dimorphos was the first object in the Solar System to have its orbit measurably shifted by humanity when NASA’s…
Lecture recording from Researcher’s night is now up on Pori Space Lab webpage and YouTube channel! Tomáš Kohout held a lecture about asteroid research and planetary defence in Pori Space Lab’s Researcher’s night event on 25.9. Recording of the lecture is now available! The lecture is in english. In future events, lectures will be held…
