Asteroid Apophis will visit Earth in 2029, and this European satellite will be along for the ride

Earth is in the center of this image surrounded by tons of blue dots in a relatively disk-like shape that represent satellites. Toward the right of the screen, a dot is traced with a yellow line as it just barely enters the satellite disk while flying past Earth.

The European Space Agency is fast-tracking a new mission called Ramses, which will fly to near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis and join the space rock in 2029 when it comes very close to our planet — closer even than the region where geosynchronous satellites sit. 

Ramses is short for Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety and, as its name suggests, is the next phase in humanity's efforts to learn more about near-Earth asteroids (NEOs) and how we might deflect them should one ever be discovered on a collision course with planet Earth.