With the launch of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission earlier this month and the success of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission in September 2022, planetary defense is taking center stage. Planetary defense is crucial for protecting Earth from the potential threat of asteroid impacts. 

By developing strategies to detect, track, and deflect asteroids and similar objects, humanity can safeguard the future of our planet and its inhabitants. DART, Hera, and future planetary defense missions are playing an invaluable role in advancing our understanding of dangerous asteroids and how we can protect the planet from these threats using new, advanced technology.

Redwire is proud to be supporting international planetary defense efforts across agencies. Redwire previously supported NASA’s Successful DART Mission, the World’s first planetary defense mission, and ESA’s Hera mission, which will conduct the most detailed survey of an asteroid to date. These important efforts are laying the groundwork for future planetary defense work.

Europe’s First Planetary Defense Mission

Hera is the European-led companion mission to NASA’s DART, which successfully impacted the binary asteroid system Didymos in 2022. Hera, which launched on October 7, 2024, will now provide a detailed survey of DART’s impact site. Hera is ESA’s contribution to the Asteroid Impact & Deflection Assessment (AIDA) mission, an international cooperation between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Redwire’s team in Belgium is supporting the Hera mission with the Data Handling Subsystem, which includes the in-house developed onboard computer system. The onboard computer system is the “brain” of the spacecraft. Also known as the third generation Advanced Data and Power Management System (ADPMS-3), the onboard computer is designed to monitor and control other spacecraft components, including transmitting critical data to operators on the ground, like the images that are acquired by Hera’s different cameras, the star trackers, and all the scientific data acquired by the instruments.

The qualification model of Redwire’s onboard computer used for the Hera mission

The onboard computer will also play a crucial role in major mission milestones. For example, ADPMS-3 will control the deployment and monitor the two ESA deep-space CubeSats which will land on the surface of the asteroid. It will also assist with the spacecraft’s final orbital insertion at Didymos.

DART’s Journey to Crash into an Asteroid

Hera’s predecessor was NASA’s DART mission, the first mission to test planetary defense technology. DART set the stage for planetary defense as a mission focused solely on testing techniques and technologies that could be used to enable future planetary defense missions and protect Earth from a dangerous impact. Powered by two Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) wings and guided by digital sun sensors produced by Redwire, DART successfully impacted the binary asteroid system Didymos on September 26, 2022, at 7:14 p.m. ET.

Image captured by the DART spacecraft as it sped to impact the asteroid Dimorphos on Sept. 26, 2022

After launching on November 24, 2021, the DART spacecraft successfully traveled roughly seven million miles over nine months to reach its target asteroid. DART’s ROSA wings performed flawlessly, delivering power to the spacecraft and its sensitive instruments throughout the mission. Redwire’s digital sun sensors guided DART right up until the spacecraft’s moment of impact.

Setting the Stage for Future Efforts

For Planetary Defense, DART and Hera are just the beginning. These game-changing missions are preparing us for future planetary defense efforts. ESA’s Satis mission is an ambitious 12UXL CubeSat mission concept designed for planetary defense. Satis’ mission objective is to characterize the physical properties of the near-Earth asteroid Apophis before, during, and after its Earth closest approach in April 2029. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed ESA mission, Redwire’s team in Belgium is leading a consortium of companies and universities that is helping the ESA decide if the mission moves forward. While leading the Satis consortium, Redwire will also lead the design of the mission and its systems.

Click here to learn more about Redwire's Contribution to the DART mission