The European Space Agency’s Hera mission - named after the Greek goddess of marriage - is Europe’s first planetary defence mission. Together with NASA's DART probe, Hera is the second part of an international effort to validate a viable method for protecting the Earth and humanity from asteroids that could threaten our planet. Its target: a binary asteroid system composed of Didymos (780m in diameter) and its moonlet Dimorphos (160m in diameter).
SPACEBEL is playing a key role in this bold initiative, with major software contributions at several levels.
The Hera Mission
The launch of Hera aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida (USA) will take place between October 7th at the earliest and October 27th at the latest. Hera is the follow-up mission to the American DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test), which smashed into the Dimorphos asteroid in September 2022 at a speed of 6.1 km/s, slightly deviating the celestial body's orbit (by some 1%) around its parent rock. The collision was visible with terrestrial telescopes and radar and via CubeSat images.
However, given the enormous distance at which the collision occurred, many questions remain, and the Hera mission will rendezvous with the asteroid to study the crater and post-impact effects. After a two-year journey and a flyby of Mars in March 2025, this 800kg spacecraft will reach its destination at the end of 2026. As the first ESA spacecraft to encounter a binary asteroid, Hera will study the impact aftermath, map the surface of Dimorphos in a series of close flybys, demonstrating innovative technologies such as autonomous navigation around an asteroid.
HERA will also deploy two deep space Cubesats, Milani and Juventas, both made in Europe. They have a dual objective: to collect more detailed scientific data on Dimorphos and its environment to gain a better understanding of the structure and composition of asteroids, and to evaluate a new inter-satellite link technology.
SPACEBEL & Hera
Thierry du Pré-Werson, Managing Director of SPACEBEL, is delighted with the Hera launch. He explains: “Hera is one of SPACEBEL's flagship projects, which perfectly demonstrates our transversal skills at all levels of a Space mission: our achievements in the context of Hera cover on-board software, simulation systems as well as the ground segment.”
For the flight segment of Hera, SPACEBEL developed the spacecraft's software system, which, for a mission in deep space, will feature a very high degree of on-board autonomy, similar to that of a driverless car. This flight software, also called central software, runs on the onboard computer. It carries out the real-time functions of the spacecraft, including command and control of the sub-systems, equipment and instruments on board, in particular the camera, used for both observation and navigation. It manages the operational instructions and measurements on board and implements the control and scientific data processing algorithms. It provides two-way communications between the main spacecraft and its two CubeSats, Milani and Juventas, and also between the main spacecraft and Earth.
SPACEBEL has developed various simulation systems for the Hera mission.
a Software Validation Facility (SVF) simulator, enabling full validation of on-board software by modelling the various elements of the satellite, such as the on-board computer, platform equipment and payload instruments;
a Training Operations Maintenance Simulator (TOMS), designed for systems testing, operator training and routine tests during the operational phase. It can also be used to investigate any anomalies detected on board. For these simulators, it is necessary to model the various elements of the satellite as well as the ground aspects, such as the stations and the onboard-ground lines;
the enhanced Software Validation Facility (eSVF) simulator is an optimised SVF to which functional modelling is added, including the physical/mathematical behaviour of equipment, modelling of the satellite's orbit and dynamics, and certain space disturbances. This simulator is used to carry out advanced GNC (Guidance, Navigation & Control) tests to ensure the success of the Hera mission.
For the ground segment, more specifically the mission and control centres, SPACEBEL is responsible for the Cubesat Mission Operations Centre located at ESA’s ESEC centre in Redu (Belgium), this centre oversees all operations and controls the Milani and Juventas duo. It manages mission requests, flight dynamics, remote controls and telemetry, as well as data exchanges between the main spacecraft and the Cubesats. It also monitors the status of the Cubesats and their instruments. In addition, it acts as an interface with the scientific teams in charge of the Cubesats' payloads, translating their requests into commands for the onboard instruments, and then transmitting the scientific data and observations to them for analysis.
Thierry du Pré-Werson pleasedly concludes: ”SPACEBEL is extremely proud to be playing a major role in this pioneering mission dedicated to safeguarding our planet Earth. With more than 50 Space missions to their credit, our engineering teams are fully committed to this extraordinary project requiring cutting-edge IT technologies so as to guarantee the performance and quality of our solutions to the full satisfaction of our customers and of ESA in particular.”
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