ISRO Seeks ESA Collaboration for Apophis Asteroid Mission

July 27, 2024

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the European Space Agency (ESA) are going to work together on the Ramses project, which will focus on the asteroid Apophis, which is going to pass close to Earth in 2029. This project shows how more people around the world are working together to study objects close to Earth.

Objective of the Ramses Mission

The 375-meter asteroid Apophis will pass only 32,000 km from Earth, which is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for scientists to learn more about space. The Ramses mission’s goal is to keep a close eye on the asteroid so that we can learn more about possible threats to Earth.

ISRO’s Involvement

Somanath, the chairman of ISRO, said that the organization would like to interact with the asteroid during its flyby, but the exact details of the plan are still not clear. Talks with ESA about working together are already going on, to use both groups’ skills. Asteroids are pieces of the Solar System that were left over when it was formed. Asteroids have been ignored in the past, but people are becoming more aware of how dangerous they could be to Earth, especially when you think about how dinosaurs died out because of strikes from asteroids.

IS4OM Activities and Future Plans

As part of the IS4OM project, ISRO has started preliminary campaigns to look at asteroids and wants to set up special telescopes for monitoring. Working with foreign groups like IAWN and SMPAG will help it do a better job of assessing the risk of asteroids and protecting the planet. In the future, ISRO wants to work with other big space agencies like NASA and JAXA to make global efforts in asteroid study and protecting planets stronger. This will improve safety plans at the national and international levels.

About ISRO

Historical Milestones: ISRO, established in 1969, launched its first satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975. This marked the beginning of India’s space exploration journey, leading to significant achievements such as the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) in 2014, making ISRO the first Asian space agency to reach Mars.

Innovative Achievements: ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is renowned for its cost-effectiveness, notably launching 104 satellites in a single mission in 2017. The Chandrayaan-2 mission discovered water ice on the Moon, contributing valuable knowledge to lunar science.

Ambitious Goals: ISRO aims to achieve its first human spaceflight with the Gaganyaan mission. By 2020, ISRO had also successfully launched a record 312 foreign satellites and international collaboration in space technology.

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