The Australian company plans to use a satellite nearing the end of its service life to take detailed photographs of the infamous asteroid Apophis, writes Focus.
The Australian company HEO Robotics is using its satellite constellation to obtain high-resolution photographs of other spacecraft in orbit. This way, the company's clients receive information about their condition. According to HEO Robotics, the company plans to purchase a satellite that is nearing the end of its service life in geostationary orbit to photograph the asteroid Apophis from a close distance. This potentially hazardous asteroid, which is 340 meters in diameter, will approach Earth in April 2029, writes Space.
Satellites in geostationary orbit rotate around the Earth at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers above the equator of our planet. Spacecraft that are nearing the end of their service life use their remaining fuel to move to a so-called graveyard orbit to avoid interfering with operational satellites.
HEO Robotics intends to buy a satellite that is nearing the end of its service life and use its remaining fuel to get closer to the asteroid Apophis. It will fly within 32,000 km of Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029. Thus, the Australian company aims to obtain detailed photographs of this space rock.
Although Apophis is considered a potentially hazardous asteroid, it does not pose a threat to Earth. That is, according to calculations, it will pass by our planet in 2029. But this is a unique opportunity for scientists to study this asteroid up close, as Apophis will be this close to Earth for the first time in 7,500 years. Scientists, in particular, want to find out how Earth's gravity might affect the massive asteroid.
Not only HEO Robotics plans to obtain detailed photographs of the asteroid Apophis. NASA, the European Space Agency, and Japan are preparing their own missions, OSIRIS-APEX, RAMSES, and DESTINY+, respectively, to explore Apophis up close during its unique approach to our planet.
According to HEO Robotics, the company plans to use its spacecraft in the future to create photographs of various asteroids in the Solar System.
