Asteroid Apophis, a 375-meter-wide space rock comparable in size to a cruise liner, will make an unusually close pass by Earth in 2029, raising international interest in how the encounter could reshape its structure.
The asteroid will fly within 32,000 kilometers of Earth’s surface on April 13, 2029, closer than some geostationary satellites. Scientists expect the planet’s gravity and tidal forces to alter its physical characteristics, potentially exposing material beneath its surface.
“Apophis’ approach gives us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how Earth’s gravity can affect the body of an asteroid,” the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
To capitalize on this opportunity, ESA and Japan’s JAXA are developing the Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety) spacecraft, which would travel alongside Apophis before and after its flyby. The mission aims to provide close-up measurements of any changes triggered by the Earth encounter.
The Ramses mission still awaits approval from ESA’s Ministerial Council in late 2025, while JAXA has submitted its own funding request to Tokyo. If cleared, the spacecraft must launch by April 2028 to reach Apophis by early 2029.
NASA also plans to study the asteroid with its OSIRIS-APEX probe, though it will only arrive a month after the flyby. Researchers say understanding Apophis’ composition is vital for planetary defense, as asteroids of its size could cause catastrophic regional damage if they were ever on a collision course with Earth.