Manufactured by HPS in Germany and Romania, Hera’s High Gain Antenna boosts its X-band signal more than 4000-fold in order to reach distant Earth. The S-band inter-satellite links connecting Hera and its CubeSats are much weaker, comparable to domestic wifi.

Based on software-defined radio, these inter-satellite links – supplied by Tekever in Portugal with antennas from Anywaves in France – do double duty: not only exchanging data with Hera, which serves as a relay back to Earth, but also supplying ranging information, letting the trio know where they are at any one time relative to each other, minimising any risk of collision.