The nanosatellite was delivered on March 19, 2024 in Florida HERA MILANI by TYVAK International srl to European Space Agency – ESA.
Previously, on 14 March 2024 at the Turin headquarters of TYVAK International, the ceremony announcing the finalization of the nanosatellite was held HERA MILANI.
Hera Milani is a nanosatellite developed by Tyvak International for the European Space Agency, with the task of visually inspect e detect dust ofasteroid Didymus following theimpact of probe DART occurred on September 27, 2022.
The Milani satellite will be integrated into the HERA mother spacecraft to be launched in 2024 and reach the asteroid. The MILANI satellite is not only the first nanosatellite developed for deep space by ESA, but also the first ever to orbit an asteroid.
On board the nanosatellite the tool is integrated VISTA (Volatile In-Situ Thermogravimetre Analyser), micro thermo-gravimeter able to detect dust, designed and built by three Italian research institutes INAF IAPS (leader), Institute for Atmospheric Pollution of National Research Council (CNR-IIA) and Polytechnic of Milan (MetroSpace Lab laboratory, Lecco).
Il CNR-IIA, under the responsibility scientific of the Dr. Emiliano Zampetti, developed for VISTA the sensors based on piezoelectric substrate and the flight proximity electronics which have successfully passed all the testing and integration phases.
Thus Doctor Emiliano Zampetti: "This is a historic event not only for the importance of the ESA Mission, but also for the technological background and experience gained by the CNR-IIA in the development of sensors for the measurement of particulate matter, fundamental for the study and development of advanced instrumentation for atmospheric monitoring".
CNR-IIA work team:
Emiliano Zampetti;
Francesca Battistelli;
Alessandro Capocecera;
Marco Segreto.