Tyvak International SRL, a leading European nano and microsatellite provider based in Torino, Italy, today announced it will participate in the NASA DART Impact Event on September 26 from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 pm ET, located on campus at Johns Hopkins University. Tyvak International’s Vice President of Programs and Program Manager for the Hera satellite, Margherita Cardi, will help operate ESA’s Hera display at the event and will be available for media questions. DART impact is scheduled for 7:14 pm ET that day.
NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, otherwise known as DART, will demonstrate and test asteroid deflection by kinetic impactor. This means the spacecraft will deliberately collide with a target asteroid, Dimorphos, the orbiting Moonlet in a binary asteroid system known as Didymos,to change its speed and path. The Didymos asteroid system poses no threat to Earth, making it the perfect test. If successful, DART’s kinetic impact method could be used in the future if a hazardous asteroid on a collision course with Earth were discovered. John Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory developed and operates DART for NASA.
Milani is a satellite developed by Tyvak International, devoted to the visual inspection and dust detection of the Didymos asteroid following DART impact. Milani will be launched aboard ESA’s Hera mothercraft in 2024. A critical component of the Hera planetary defence mission, Milani will be one of ESA’s first deep-space nanosatellites. Milani will also be one of the first nanosatellites ever to orbit an asteroid. Tyvak International is responsible for Milani’s design, build, and mission operations.