Avio on the front line of the ESA Hera mission for planetary defence from asteroids

Rome, 1 December 2020 - Avio S.p.A. announces it has secured its role as Subcontractor of OHB System AG within the frame of the European Space Agency (ESA) “Hera” project, a “planetary defence” system.

Hera mission foresees the launch of a dedicated satellite in 2024 and will be carried out in synergy with NASA's Double Asteroid Redirect Test (DART) mission. Hera and DART aim to the exploration and modification of the trajectory of a dual system of asteroids (Dydimos). In this context, Avio is part of a consortium of European companies led by OHB System AG and is responsible for the satellite bi-propellant chemical propulsion system. Avio has extensive and consolidated experience in satellite propulsion, with bi-propellant, mono-propellant and cold gas thrusters systems. In fact, many satellite programs have been equipped over the years with Avio's propulsion modules, such as Sicral, Artemis, XMM; Italsat 1-2, Sax, Tethered, Eurca, Olympus, Sicral 1B, SmallGEO, and EDRS-C.

“We are proud to participate in this important ESA mission, which recognizes the value of the competences and technologies of Avio to project it in the future of space defense” commented Giulio Ranzo, Avio CEO.