Ramses (spacecraft)

Did You Know?

• The spacecraft's central tube, made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer, measures 1.55 m in height and weighs just under 40 kg.
• The RPS instrument is based on a spare model of the Jovian Electron and Ion Sensor from ESA's JUICE spacecraft.

Timeline

In July 2024, ESA's Space Safety Programme received permission to begin preparatory work for Ramses, with 1.5 million euros awarded for preparations. In October 2024, ESA signed a contract with OHB Italia SpA for preliminary work and unveiled the official mission patch. India expressed interest in developing an instrument in July 2024, and DLR proposed including a mini-rover called MASCOT3 (or BASTET) that year. In March 2025, ESA selected the first CubeSat, later named Farinella, and considered whether the second CubeSat could be a lander. In April 2025, ESA selected Emxys to build the second CubeSat, later named Don Quijote, intended to land on Apophis, with GomSpace providing system engineering support. In August 2025, JAXA made an official funding request to the Japanese government, planning to contribute solar arrays, an infrared imager, and a rideshare launch on the H3 rocket. The European funding decision was expected in late 2025 at the ESA ministerial council. In September 2025, Project Manager Paolo Martino confirmed the project was fully on schedule; the Preliminary Design Review had been completed the previous year, and the Critical Design Review was expected in November 2025. At the ministerial council in late November 2025, ESA member states approved funding for the mission along with a substantial budget increase for the Space Safety Programme.

Mission profile

Ramses will launch on a Japanese H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in April 2028 together with JAXA's DESTINY+ probe, which will perform a flyby of Apophis before Ramses arrives. Ramses will follow a 10-month direct transfer trajectory and rendezvous with Apophis no later than 1 March 2029. Before and after the closest approach to Earth, it will perform global imaging at 10 cm resolution and targeted imaging at 1.5 cm resolution. During the Earth flyby, Ramses will keep a safe distance of 5 km from the asteroid while taking one picture per minute.

CubeSats

The first CubeSat, named Farinella after Italian planetary scientist Paolo Farinella, will be built by Tyvak International. It combines the dust analyser VISTA from Hera's Milani CubeSat with the low-frequency radar from Hera's Juventas CubeSat to study material released from Apophis's surface and the asteroid's internal structure. The second CubeSat, Don Quijote, is being developed by a consortium led by Emxys and will attempt to land on Apophis. Its main task is high-resolution imagery from a few kilometres away; if landing succeeds, it will also measure seismic activity and magnetic interactions during the Earth flyby.

Science instruments

The Ramses spacecraft carries eight scientific instruments. Two Asteroid Framing Cameras (AFC), developed by Jena-Optronik, provide broad-field imaging for navigation and science. The Color High-resolution Apophis Narrow-angle CamEra System (CHANCES), from the University of Bern, captures surface reflectance at different wavelengths to study physical properties and mineralogical composition, recording changes caused by Earth's gravity. The HyperScout for Apophis Multispectral Exploration and Taxonomy (HAMLET), built by Cosine Italia, is a hyperspectral camera operating in two spectral channels (650-960 nm and 960-1500 nm) to map mineral and elemental composition and space weathering effects. The Planetary ALTimeter (PALT) is a LIDAR with 0.5 m accuracy at 1.5 μm wavelength for distance measurement and navigation. The RAMSES Plasma Spectrometer (RPS), developed by the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, measures charged particles to study the plasma environment around Apophis, especially during passage through Earth's outer radiation belt, and may detect regolith lifting. Additional instruments are mounted on the Farinella and Don Quijote CubeSats.