An Australian company wants to join efforts to study a rare space event, conducting its own flyby of the asteroid Apophis when it makes its close approach to Earth in 2029.
Sydney-based HEO Robotics, a provider of commercial satellite-to-satellite imagery, wants to add to the international missions already planning to get up close to the 1,115-foot-wide (340 meters) asteroid Apophis as it zooms by Earth in April 2029 by buying a satellite near the end of its life up in geostationary orbit and use its remaining fuel.
