Hera is a European Space Agency (ESA)-led mission to explore a binary asteroid, equipped with the Thermal InfraRed Imager (TIRI) developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The Hera spacecraft launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on October 7, 2024, at 23:52 JST from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA.

ESA have reported that the Hera spacecraft initial acquisition and solar array deployment have been completed, and confirmed that the spacecraft has been inserted into the intended trajectory.

We would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone involved!

Comment from Okada Tatsuaki
Associate Professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Department of Solar System Sciences and Hera ISAS Project Team Leader.

"Hera has now broken through the major barrier and set out for the binary asteroid, Didymos and Dimorphos. The team will work to deliver many results during this first-ever binary asteroid rendezvous exploration that will be a technological demonstration for planetary defense--avoiding asteroid impact with the Earth--and also provide clues to the formation process of the planets, including the Earth."

©ESA - S. Corvaja