First switch on for ESA-JAXA Ramses asteroid mission

What happened

The European Space Agency’s and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Ramses planetary defence spacecraft has been turned on for the first time by its prime contractor – marking a major milestone in its time-critical development schedule. The spacecraft’s Core Module, containing all its main electronics, is currently being assembled in the Milan cleanroom facility of OHB Italia .

Key Ramses units have been mounted within the module’s U-shaped body, and then linked together via intricate cabling, known as the spacecraft harness. The installation of the units and connecting harness was performed by specialist OHB Italia teams, working hard to maintain the rigorous Ramses mission schedule.

Ramses Core Module To save further schedule time, Ramses is being assembled in two parts at once. The Core Module in Italy is being built around a dummy version of the spacecraft’s central cylindrical core.