ESA will propose such a mission for approval and funding at its next Ministerial Council Meeting in 2025 as the next Planetary Defence mission in its Space Safety Programme. The spacecraft will be based on an adaptation of Hera, ESA’s first asteroid mission, which successfully launched on 7 October 2024.

However, the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses) would need to launch in early 2028 in order to arrive at Apophis in time to study it as it passes Earth. Therefore, in July 2024, ESA’s Member States approved the use of existing Agency funds to begin preparatory work on the mission’s Consolidation / Early Implementation phase.

This work will ensure that, if the Ramses mission receives full support in 2025, its implementation is feasible within this very strict timeline.