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DESTINY+ & RAMSES

TBD 20 APR 2028 (TIME TBD) MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES
Launch
T—minus
--:--:--:--
DD : HH : MM : SS · 20 Apr 2028 (time TBD)
Launch time
TBD
20 Apr 2028
Status
TBD
Probability
—
weather go
Window
Instantaneous
UTC
Rocket
H3-24
Pad
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2
Mission type
Planetary Science
Orbit
Asteroid
Orbital launch of the year
#6
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries launch of the year
#2
Launch from this pad
#30
Mission

DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) is a planned asteroid exploration mission to 3200 Phaethon, the parent body of the Geminids meteor shower. It will demonstrate further improvements of low cost solar electric propulsion in deep space and innovative light-weight solar array panel technology.

The spacecraft will carry 3 science instruments:

* DESTINY Dust Analyzer (DDA) * Telescopic Camera for Phaethon (TCAP) * Multiband Camera for Phaethon (MCAP)

RAMSES (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) is a European-Japanese planetary defense mission to near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis, led by the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft will arrive around Apophis in February 2029, before the asteroid’s very close fly-by to Earth on 13 April 2029. It will conduct measurements of the asteroid's properties before and during the Earth flyby to study its response to the close encounter with the planet.

The spacecraft will leverage much of the technology developed for the Hera mission.

At the asteroid, RAMSES will deploy two smaller CubeSats, one carrying a dust analyser, a low-frequency radar, the other will attempt to land on Apophis and provide high-resolution images from the surface.

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