JAXA and ESA Sign Agreement for RAMSES Mission to Asteroid Apophis
Summary: JAXA will provide the Solar Array Wing, Thermal Infrared Imager, and H3 launch vehicle for the ESA-led RAMSES mission to study asteroid Apophis during its 2029 Earth flyby.
On May 8, 2026, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) formally signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on planetary defence, along with a specific cooperation agreement for the RAMSES (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) mission to asteroid Apophis. This followed ESA's award of the RAMSES spacecraft development contract to OHB Italia on February 10, 2026.
Under the agreement, JAXA will contribute three key hardware elements to the RAMSES mission: a Solar Array Wing, a Thermal Infrared Imager, and the H3 launch vehicle. The H3 rocket will be responsible for delivering the spacecraft to its designated orbit. RAMSES is scheduled for launch between mid-April and mid-May 2028, with arrival at asteroid (99942) Apophis expected in February 2029 — ahead of the asteroid's exceptionally close flyby of Earth in April 2029.
Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid approximately 370 metres in diameter. During its 2029 flyby, it will pass within roughly 31,000 kilometres of Earth's surface, well below the altitude of geostationary orbit, making it one of the closest known approaches of an object this size. The RAMSES mission will conduct real-time monitoring of how Apophis responds to Earth's gravitational tidal forces, studying changes in its surface and internal structure to provide critical data for planetary defence.
This collaboration marks a substantive step in ESA-JAXA cooperation on planetary defence. The two agencies will leverage their respective strengths in spacecraft platforms, payload development, and launch vehicles to jointly advance humanity's understanding of and preparedness for near-Earth objects.