NEXT SPACEFLIGHT

Status

DESTINY+ and RAMSES

Launch Time
NET Apr 20, 2028

Launch vehicle variant TBD.

Rocket

H3-22S
Image Credit: JAXA
JAXA
Status: Active
Price: $50.0 million
Liftoff Thrust: 7,542 kN
Payload to GTO: 4,000 kg
Stages: 2
Strap-ons: 2
Rocket Height: 63.0 m
Fairing Diameter: 5.27 m
Fairing Height: 10.4 m

Mission Details

DESTINY+

DESTINY+ (Demonstration and Experiment of Space Technology for INterplanetary voYage with Phaethon fLyby and dUst Science) is a planned asteroid exploration mission to 3200 Phaethon, the parent body of the Geminids meteor shower. It will demonstrate further improvements of low cost solar electric propulsion in deep space and innovative light-weight solar array panel technology.

The spacecraft will carry 3 science instruments:

* DESTINY Dust Analyzer (DDA)
* Telescopic Camera for Phaethon (TCAP)
* Multiband Camera for Phaethon (MCAP)

Operator: JAXA
Payloads: 1
Heliocentric Orbit

RAMSES

AKA Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety

RAMSES (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) is a European-Japanese planetary defense mission to near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis, led by the European Space Agency (ESA). The spacecraft will arrive around Apophis in February 2029, before the asteroid’s very close fly-by to Earth on 13 April 2029. It will conduct measurements of the asteroid's properties before and during the Earth flyby to study its response to the close encounter with the planet.

The spacecraft will leverage much of the technology developed for the Hera mission.

At the asteroid, RAMSES will deploy two smaller CubeSats, one carrying a dust analyser, a low-frequency radar, the other will attempt to land on Apophis and provide high-resolution images from the surface.

Operator: ESA
Payloads: 1
Heliocentric Orbit

Location

LA-Y2, Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

Stats

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

9th mission
1st mission of 2028

H3

8th mission
1st mission of 2028