ESA's Ramses Mission to Monitor Apophis Asteroid Flyby in 2029
The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing for a new planetary defense mission, the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses), aimed at studying the asteroid 99942 Apophis during its close flyby of Earth in 2029. Scheduled to pass within 32,000 kilometers of Earth's surface on April 13, 2029, the asteroid will be visible to approximately two billion people across Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. The Ramses spacecraft is set to launch in April 2028, arriving at Apophis two months before its closest approach to observe how Earth's gravity affects the asteroid's physical characteristics.
The mission seeks to enhance our understanding of how to prevent potential asteroid collisions with Earth by studying changes in Apophis's shape, surface, orbit, rotation, and orientation caused by Earth's gravitational forces. Researchers also hope to gain insights into the asteroid's internal structure, density, and composition. This close encounter, a rare event that occurs once every 5,000 to 10,000 years, provides a unique opportunity for scientific observation and the potential development of asteroid deflection techniques. A final decision on whether to commit to the Ramses mission will be made at ESA's Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025.
