Ramses (spacecraft)
Ramses, or Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety, is a proposed ESA mission to a near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis. If approved, it is expected to be launched in April 2028, to arrive at Apophis in February 2029, before its closest approach to Earth. It will conduct multiple measurements of the asteroid's properties, to study possible response in case such an asteroid would be on a collision course with Earth.[1][2][3][clarification needed] ESA signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA for preliminary work on the mission in October 2024 and has also unveil the official mission patch. A funding decision is expected to be made in late 2025 at the ESA Ministerial Council. Ramses will be "an adaptation of Hera", launched in 2024.[4][5] References
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