European planetary defense mission Hera sends first images and analysis of Mars

On October 12, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission reached a significant milestone in space exploration. During a flyby of Mars, the Hera spacecraft captured images of Deimos, the smallest and most enigmatic moon of Mars. This marks the first time Hera has used its scientific payload for objectives beyond Earth and the Moon.

During the Mars flyby, Hera’s instruments gathered valuable data from both Mars and Deimos. In addition, the “Feature Tracking” image processing algorithm, developed by GMV, was successfully tested. This algorithm will help Hera navigate close to asteroids by providing data to the brains of the probe. On its way to the Didymos binary asteroid system, which includes Dimorphos, Hera performed a key maneuver to drastically reduce the amount of fuel required for its space journey, a flyby maneuver that gave the probe a gravitational boost of nearly 1 km/s, propelling it closer to its destination. 

During the flyby, Hera also conducted joint observations of Deimos alongside ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, which has been in orbit around Mars for over 20 years. These joint observations will help inform planning for the MMX (Martian Moons eXploration Mission) scheduled for next year, led by JAXA in collaboration with NASA, CNES, DLR, and ESA.

Since its launch in 2007, GMV has played a key role in the Hera mission, leading an international industrial consortium. The company is responsible for designing and developing the guidance, navigation, and control (GNC) system, as well as conducting mission analysis near the target asteroids. GMV is also collaborating with France’s CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales) in Toulouse on the CubeSat Flight Dynamics and Science Operations Centre, which will manage the control, planning, and execution of Hera’s CubeSats, including Juventas. GMV has been instrumental in developing Hera’s operational simulator and providing mission control support. 

During this flyby, as part of its support for the mission control center, GMV was on-site at ESA’s operations center in Darmstadt, Germany (ESOC), where it provided support to ESA/ESOC and actively contributed to this mission-critical interplanetary maneuver—Hera's first since launch. 

Not only does the Hera mission represent a breakthrough in planetary defense technology, it will also be collecting invaluable scientific information about the formation and evolution of our solar system. With this milestone, Hera is set to continue its journey to its final destination: Didymos.

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