The CHANCES Instrument & RAMSES Mission

At its Ministerial Council meeting in November 2025, the European Space Agency (ESA) decided to carry out the joint ESA-JAXA mission RAMSES (Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety). It will investigate the close Earth flyby of the asteroid "Apophis" in April 2029. The University of Bern, together with local and international academic and industrial partners, will provide the CHANCES (Colour High-resolution Apophis Narrow-angle CamEra System) instrument to the mission—a camera that will take high-resolution images to investigate changes in the surface characteristics and properties of Apophis.

Artist's impression of ESA's Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (RAMSES). ©ESA-Science Office