Watch the Launch

Watch the Launch

Additional Media

ESA's Hera mission launch (Official broadcast)

Hera, ESA’s first planetary defence mission, is headed to space. Hera will fly to a unique target among the 1.3 million known asteroids of our Solar System – the first body to have had its orbit shi...

Hera Mission

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SpaceX

SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets.

Hera

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Asteroid
Mission: Robotic Exploration

Asteroid Space Launch Complex 40 Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA Probability: 60%
B1061 - Atlantic Ocean

Hera is a space mission in development at the European Space Agency in its Space Safety program. Its primary objective is to study the Didymos binary asteroid system that was impacted by DART and contribute to validation of the kinetic impact method to deviate a near-Earth asteroid in a colliding trajectory with Earth. It will measure the size and the morphology of the crater created by and momentum transferred by an artificial projectile impacting an asteroid, which will allow measuring the efficiency of the deflection produced by the impact. It will also analyze the expanding debris cloud caused by the impact.

Telemetry

Launch trajectory and telemetry simulations provided by Flight Club - a rocket launch simulator and orbital trajectory visualiser for all things space!

Updates

Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 7, 2024, 4:18 p.m.

Hera signal acquired and all systems nominal.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 7, 2024, 4:08 p.m.

Spacecraft separation.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 7, 2024, 2:52 p.m.

Liftoff.


Cosmic_Penguin • Oct. 7, 2024, 2:19 p.m.

Updated launch weather, 60% GO.


LL2 • Oct. 7, 2024, 2:11 p.m.

Official Webcast by European Space Agency, ESA has started


Falcon 9

Family:
Configuration: Block 5

Falcon 9 is a two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of satellites and the Dragon spacecraft into orbit. The Block 5 variant is the fifth major interval aimed at improving upon the ability for rapid reusability.

See Details
Specifications
  • Stages
    2
  • Length
    70.0 m
  • Diameter
    3.65 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.2 m
  • Launch Mass
    549.0 T
  • Thrust
    7607.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Falcon 9
  • Family
    ―
  • Variant
    Block 5
  • Alias
    ―
  • Full Name
    Falcon 9 Block 5
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
    $52000000
  • Low Earth Orbit
    22800.0 kg
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    8300.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
    ―
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity
    ―

Booster Info


B1061

Status: Expended


Type: Core
Flight Proven: Yes
First Flight: November 16, 2020
Last Flight: October 7, 2024
Flights: 23
Landings Attempted: 22
Landings Successful: 22
Previous B1061 Flights

Landing Information

The Falcon 9 booster B1061 is expended during this mission.

Core will be expended.

SpaceX

SpaceX

(SpX)

CEO: Elon Musk Founded: 2002 Successes: 729 Failures: 15 Pending: 135

Agency Type:

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of reducing space transportation costs and enabling the colonization of Mars. SpaceX operates from many pads, on the East Coast of the US they operate from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and historic LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center. They also operate from SLC-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, usually for polar launches. Another launch site is being developed at Boca Chica, Texas.

INFO WIKI
ESA

10 asteroid mysteries that Hera will explore

Hera, the European Space Agency’s first mission for planetary defence, arrives at its target body during November, with the goal of gathering precious data on the kinetic impact method of asteroid deflection – while also solving various sc…

ESA

First light: Hera resolves two asteroids instead of one

The European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence has resolved its two target asteroids separately for the very first time, revealing the binary nature of the Didymos system, currently some 197 million km away from Earth.

ESA

Finding Hera’s way: Flight Dynamics team in action

The European Space Agency’s Hera planetary defence mission team is preparing to light a fire in the sky. On the early morning of 15 October the small-car-sized spacecraft will burn its Orbit Control Thrusters in the direction of its target…

ESA

Finding Hera’s way: ESA’s Flight Dynamics team into action

The European Space Agency’s Hera planetary defence mission team is preparing to light a fire in the sky. On the early morning of 15 October the small-car-sized spacecraft will burn its Orbit Control Thrusters in the direction of its target…

ESA

The Incredible Adventures of the Hera mission – The space detectives arrive

Meet Hera, our very own asteroid detective. Together with two CubeSats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – Hera is off on an adventure to explore Didymos, a double asteroid system that is typical of the thousands t…

Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

Space Launch Complex 40


Long March 12
Success
2 hours, 42 minutes ago
SatNet LEO Group 29
Commercial LC-2 - Wenchang Space Launch Site, People's Republic of China

A batch of 9 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites for the Chinese state owned SatNet constellation operated by the China Satellite Network Group.…


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
1 day, 9 hours ago
Glonass-K1? (Kosmos 2621?)
43/3 (43L) - Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russian Federation

Note: Payload identity uncertain. Glonass-K are the third generation of satellite design for GLONASS satellite navigation system. GLONASS is a Rus…


Falcon 9
Success
1 day, 22 hours ago
USSF-432
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A classified mission for the United States Space Force. It is possibly a batch of classified LEO satellites based on SpaceX’s Starshield satellite bu…


Ceres-2
Success
1 day, 23 hours ago
4 satellites
Launch Area 95A - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

Share-ride of 4 commercial Earth observation and technology demonstration satellites to SSO, details TBD.


Long March 2C
Success
3 days, 7 hours ago
Yaogan 51-07 to 09
Launch Complex 3 (LC-3/LA-1) - Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

3 Chinese military “remote sensing” satellite of unknown purposes.


Kinetica 2
Success
5 days, 22 hours ago
SpaceSail Polar Group #17
Launch Area 140 - Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China

18 Low Earth Orbit communication satellites with Ku, Q and V band payloads for the G60 constellation operated by Shanghai Spacesail Technologies with…


Electron
Success
6 days, 6 hours ago
The Sea God Surveys (iQPS Launch 9)
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1A - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 1 day ago
Starlink Group 15-18
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


GSLV Mk II
Success
1 week, 2 days ago
IRNSS-1L (NVS-03)
Satish Dhawan Space Centre Second Launch Pad - Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India

This is a replacement satellite for the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. The constellation will provide India with an alternative to GPS …


Falcon 9
Success
1 week, 5 days ago
Starlink Group 15-16
Space Launch Complex 4E - Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA

A batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.