Redwire, a leader in space infrastructure for the next generation of the space economy, has announced its role in supplying a vital onboard computer system for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera mission—Europe’s first flagship planetary defense initiative. Hera will serve as a companion mission to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which successfully impacted the binary asteroid system Didymos in September 2022, utilizing Redwire’s power and navigation technology.
The Hera mission aims to conduct a comprehensive survey of DART’s impact site. The onboard computer for Hera has been developed by Redwire’s wholly owned Belgian subsidiary, Redwire Space NV, under a contract with OHB Germany, the primary industrial contractor for the mission. This onboard computer, known as the Advanced Data and Power Management System (ADPMS-3), represents Redwire’s third generation of this technology. It is specifically designed to monitor and manage various spacecraft components while transmitting crucial data to ground operators.
Built to tackle the challenges of deep-space operations, ADPMS-3 will oversee all essential spacecraft functions, including power and navigation. It will also play a key role in significant mission milestones, such as the deployment and monitoring of ESA’s two deep-space CubeSats and the spacecraft’s final orbital insertion at Didymos.
“Redwire’s third-generation onboard computer, benefiting from over 25 years of flight heritage and avionics expertise, is now a critical technology enabling some of today’s most ambitious missions,” stated Erik Masure, President of Redwire Space Europe. “We are proud to collaborate with ESA on the groundbreaking Hera mission, which aims to enhance humanity’s planetary defense capabilities and deepen our scientific understanding of asteroids.”
The Hera mission is an exciting addition to Redwire’s expanding portfolio of space solutions, which promote scientific discovery and planetary defense efforts. Previously, Redwire contributed digital sun sensors and Roll-Out Solar Array technology to NASA’s DART mission and is also providing the onboard computer for ESA’s Comet Interceptor mission—the first spacecraft intended to explore a long-period comet. Redwire’s ADPMS has a proven track record, previously supporting ESA’s Proba-2, Proba-V, and Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle missions.
Hera is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in October 2024.
