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ESA’s Hera spacecraft is expected to reach the Didymos binary asteroid system in November 2026. As of 13 October, it had not yet arrived: ESA said its first braking manoeuvre was planned for 15 October, with a second planned for 22 October and three smaller transition manoeuvres later in the month. Hera will study the aftermath of NASA’s DART impact on Dimorphos, the smaller moon orbiting Didymos—not attempt the impact itself.
What is ESA’s Hera mission?
Hera is a European Space Agency spacecraft launched on 7 October 2024 to investigate the Didymos binary asteroid system. ESA describes its objective as a detailed post-impact survey of Dimorphos, the moonlet orbiting the larger asteroid Didymos. The mission is part of the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA), a joint effort in which NASA’s DART spacecraft carried out the impact test and Hera is the follow-up observer. ESA’s mission overview
The distinction matters: DART already changed Dimorphos’s orbit. Hera’s role is to measure the outcome more completely, including the moonlet’s mass, altered orbit, impact crater and surrounding surface. Those measurements can improve understanding of how an impact transfers momentum to an asteroid. They do not establish that the same technique would deflect every asteroid; the result depends on the target and the impact conditions.
When will Hera reach Didymos?
ESA and NASA/JPL list November 2026 as the expected rendezvous month. The date is a schedule, not an arrival already achieved: ESA’s 7 October 2026 update said Hera was preparing for braking and gave the following planned sequence:
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- 15 October: first braking manoeuvre, BRM-1.
- 22 October: second braking manoeuvre, BRM-2.
- Toward the end of October: three smaller transition manoeuvres.
These were plans announced by ESA as of 7 October, not confirmation that the burns subsequently took place. ESA’s 7 October 2026 operations update
Published schedules differ: the current ESA and NASA/JPL listings give November, while the JAXA/ISAS Hera project page gives December 2026. ESA’s October 2025 account said the revised November date was a month earlier than the original plan. For the current expected month, November is the date shown by ESA and NASA/JPL; the partner-page difference is a reason to treat arrival timing as a schedule that may be updated. ESA mission page · NASA/JPL small-body target listing · JAXA/ISAS Hera project page
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What did DART change?
NASA’s DART spacecraft intentionally struck Dimorphos on 26 September 2022. JAXA/ISAS reports that the impact shortened the moonlet’s orbital period around Didymos by approximately 32 minutes. This is the demonstrated result: a measurable change to Dimorphos’s orbit. ESA’s Hera mission overview · JAXA/ISAS project page
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11The period change shows that a kinetic impact can alter an asteroid moonlet’s motion, but the period alone does not fully describe the impact’s physical effects. Hera is intended to gather the measurements needed to interpret how the collision changed Dimorphos and how effectively momentum was transferred.
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Why does Hera visit a pair of asteroids?
Didymos is the larger primary, approximately 780 metres across, and Dimorphos is its smaller moonlet, approximately 150–151 metres across. Before the impact, Dimorphos orbited Didymos every 11 hours and 55 minutes. ESA’s September 2026 explainer says the pair are relatively dark, silicon-rich rock and that Dimorphos averages about 1.15 kilometres from Didymos. ESA’s Didymos system explainer
Studying both bodies gives Hera the context to measure the moonlet’s orbit and the system’s response, rather than treating the impact site as an isolated object. The post-impact surface is not fully known; DART likely reshaped Dimorphos and ejected material. A close survey can help establish what the impact left behind.
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What will Hera and its CubeSats measure?
Hera will survey the system from the spacecraft, map and investigate the impact region, and measure Dimorphos’s mass and changed orbit. Those observations address uncertainties in both the target’s physical properties and the impact’s momentum transfer. Two CubeSats are designed to make complementary measurements closer to the asteroid:
| Mission component | Scientific role |
|---|---|
| Hera | Detailed post-impact survey, including Dimorphos’s mass and orbit and investigation of the crater and surrounding surface. |
| Juventas | Internal radar sounding and gravity measurements. |
| Milani | Surface spectral analysis and investigation of surrounding dust. |
ESA also identifies the CubeSats as a demonstration of inter-satellite links and operations in an ultra-low-gravity environment. Together, the measurements are intended to turn the observed orbital change into a better-characterized physical account of the impact. ESA mission overview · ESA mission FAQ and overview
How has Hera prepared for arrival?
In March 2026, Hera performed a deep-space manoeuvre that used 123 kilograms of hydrazine and changed the spacecraft’s velocity by 367 metres per second. ESA said the manoeuvre also tested systems needed for the planned braking and rendezvous operations. ESA Flight Dynamics engineer Francesco Castellini called it “the Hera mission’s largest manoeuvre in terms of fuel consumption” and said it was used to test those systems. ESA’s 17 March 2026 manoeuvre report
ESA lists the overall mission cost as €363 million at 2022 economic conditions, including spacecraft and payload development, launcher procurement and operations. That figure is tied to the stated economic basis; it should not be read as a current-year cost. ESA mission FAQ
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