SpaceX launched the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft on Monday to see a test NASA performed in 2022 to knock the moonlet off its orbit from an asteroid actually worked.

Hera spacecraft launches over Florida coast. Though Hurricane Milton is moving its way toward Florida's western coast, the Hera spacecraft still managed to depart Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The Hera spacecraft, which took flight late Monday morning, is part of a broader effort to bolster humanity’s planetary defense readiness. transcript “Three, two, one. Ignition, engines full ...

The Hera spacecraft is seen after separating from its Falcon 9 rocket with a stunning crescent Earth in the background after launch on Oct. 7, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX/ESA) ...

At 10:52 a.m. Monday, SpaceX will launch the Hera spacecraft for ESA from Cape Canaveral Launch Complex 40. The destination of this surveying spacecraft is the same asteroid system NASA previously ...

The European Space Agency’s Hera mission and two satellites are on the way to survey the aftermath of NASA’s DART spacecraft, which intentionally hit an asteroid in 2022.

The Hera spacecraft is seen after separating from its Falcon 9 rocket with a stunning crescent Earth in the background after launch on Oct. 7, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX/ESA) ...

ESA’s Hera mission lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, on 7 October at 10:52 local time. ESA - S. Corvaja Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

The FAA is giving the OK for the launch of the European Space Agency’s Hera mission, a followup to NASA’s DART mission that impacted an asteroid in 2021 as part of a planetary defense test to ...

Updated 4:15 p.m. Eastern with post-launch comment. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A Falcon 9 successfully launched a European asteroid mission Oct. 7 in a partial return to flight for the rocket.