ESA and JAXA move toward joint Rapid Apophis flyby as Japan seeks funding

ESA and JAXA are advancing plans for a joint Rapid Apophis flyby to observe asteroid Apophis during its record-close 2029 Earth pass. Japan’s space agency has formally requested government funding to join ESA’s Rapid Apophis Mission (RAMSES), signaling growing international collaboration on planetary‑defense science.

Discovered 2025-09-01T03:27:06.583376-07:00 | 2025-09-01T03:27:06.583376-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

A coordinated ESA–JAXA mission would secure near‑object measurements during the April 2029 record-close flyby, filling critical observational gaps needed for orbital prediction and planetary‑defense modeling (see earlier coverage of the 2029 flyby).
Japan’s formal funding request follows its pledge to provide an H3 launcher, indicating Tokyo is moving to an operational partnership that will affect launch allocations, payload roles and international mission schedules.
The move helps mitigate capability shortfalls after NASA’s constrained participation, increasing the likelihood that high-value close-range data will be captured in 2029; background on alternative proposals and NASA funding context is here.

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