Europe’s first planetary defense mission — a follow-up to NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test — will launch as early as next week.

The European Space Agency's Hera mission will set off from Cape Canaveral on 7 October on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It will travel several hundred million kilometers to reach the double asteroid Didymos in autumn 2026.

A new space mission could potentially change the course of asteroids, significantly reducing the threat they pose to Earth. In October, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch "Hera," the second phase of a mission that may pave the way for asteroid deflection.