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SPACEBEL takes part in the first European planetary defense mission

The European Space Agency’s Hera mission is Europe’s first planetary defense mission. The Walloon company SPACEBEL played a key role in this ambitious initiative by delivering major software contributions at several levels.

ESA’s Hera mission is the first European planetary defense mission. Together with NASA’s DART probe, Hera forms the second part of an international demonstration mission designed to validate a viable method for protecting Earth and humanity from asteroids that could threaten our planet.

Hera’s target is a binary asteroid system composed of Didymos (780 m in diameter) and its small moon Dimorphos (160 m in diameter). After a two-year journey, the Hera spacecraft is expected to reach its destination by the end of 2026. Hera’s objective is to analyze the consequences of the September 2022 impact between NASA’s DART probe and the asteroid Dimorphos. It will also map Dimorphos’ surface through a series of close flybys, demonstrating innovative technologies such as autonomous navigation around an asteroid.

In this European planetary defense mission, the Walloon company SPACEBEL, based in Liège, plays a key role by providing major software contributions.

Hera is one of SPACEBEL’s flagship projects and perfectly demonstrates our cross-disciplinary expertise at every level of a space mission: our achievements within Hera cover onboard software, simulation systems, and the ground segment

Thierry du Pré-WersonManaging Director of SPACEBEL

The SPACEBEL case illustrates that Wallonia is at the forefront of the space sector, with an ecosystem that enables international achievements such as SPACEBEL’s participation in the European Hera mission.

In practical terms, SPACEBEL developed the spacecraft software system for the flight segment. Because this is a deep-space mission, the software system features a very high degree of onboard autonomy, similar to that of a self-driving car. This flight software, also known as the central software, runs on the onboard computer. It performs the spacecraft’s real-time functions, including command and control of subsystems, onboard equipment, and instruments — particularly the camera, used for both observation and navigation. It manages operational instructions and onboard measurements and implements control and scientific data-processing algorithms. It also ensures two-way communications between the main spacecraft and its two CubeSats, Milani and Juventas, as well as between the main spacecraft and Earth.

Three simulation systems

SPACEBEL also developed three different simulation systems for the Hera mission. The first simulator, called the Software Validation Facility (SVF), enables full validation of onboard software by modeling the satellite’s various elements, such as the onboard computer, platform equipment, and payload instruments.

Another simulator, the Training Operations Maintenance Simulator (TOMS), is used for system testing, operator training, and routine operational tests. It also supports investigations when anomalies are detected onboard. These simulators require modeling not only the satellite’s components but also ground aspects, such as stations and ground-to-space links.

The enhanced Software Validation Facility (eSVF) is an optimized SVF that adds functional models, including the physical and mathematical behavior of equipment, satellite orbit and dynamics modeling, and certain space disturbances. This simulator is used for advanced GNC (Guidance, Navigation & Control) testing to best ensure the success of the Hera mission.

An operations center in Redu

For the ground segment — particularly mission and control centers — SPACEBEL is responsible for the CubeSats Mission Operations Center. Located in Redu, Belgium, this center supervises all operations and controls the Milani and Juventas pair. It manages mission requests, flight dynamics, telecommands and telemetry, as well as data exchanges between the main spacecraft and the CubeSats. It also monitors the status of the CubeSats and their instruments. In addition, it serves as an interface with the scientific teams responsible for the CubeSat payloads, translating their requests into commands for the onboard instruments and then transmitting the scientific data and observations for analysis.

SPACEBEL’s participation in a European mission of this scale is a major success for the Walloon company. “SPACEBEL is extremely proud to make a significant contribution to this pioneering mission aimed at protecting Earth. With experience from more than 50 space missions, our engineers are fully committed to this extraordinary project, which requires cutting-edge IT technologies to ensure the performance and quality of our solutions to the highest satisfaction of our clients — and ESA in particular,” concludes Thierry du Pré-Werson.