Asteroid probe Hera successfully completes mechanical environmental tests

Bremen/Noordwijk, 6. November 2023. Passed! The Hera asteroid probe, whose development is being led by OHB as prime contractor, has successfully completed the first part of the environmental test campaign in the test chamber of ESA's European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC) in Noordwijk. During the mechanical environmental tests, the forces acting during the rocket launch - vibration and sound pressure - were simulated and the satellite was given a good shake. The OHB project team is therefore well on schedule - which is extremely important for this mission: the team has just four years to complete the development, construction, testing and launch campaign.

Test activities for Hera are now continuing at ESTEC and preparations for the thermal vacuum test are in full swing. Once the campaign has been successfully completed, Hera will be taken to the Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. The mission's launch window of just under three weeks will open on 7 October 2024. Hera will then make its way to the Didymos/Dimorphos double asteroid in a Falcon 9.