Hera
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified.
Turn it in 3D
Open the 3D viewer (www.spaceradar.ai).
The viewer loads when you ask: about 700 kB the first time (three.js and the model), much less after.
Pictures 4
Three-quarter view
From the side
From behind
From above
About this model
Hera is one of the 203 3D models Space Radar made itself: a deep-space probe, built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh.
Shape built from published dimensions and pictures; details simplified. It has 4,180 triangles in a 28 kB glTF file, and is 12 m across at full scale.
On Space Radar’s live map it is drawn where the craft is today. Open it on the map.
Dimensions and their sources
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Body | 1.6 m |
| Body height | 1.7 m |
| Span | 11.5 m |
| Wing | 5 m |
| Array area | 14 m² |
| Hga | 1.13 m |
ESA, 'Hera spacecraft', esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2026/08/Hera_spacecraft, OPENED 2026-10-15: 'Hera measures approximately 1.6 m across per side, plus solar arrays that stretch 11.5 m across when fully deployed.'; '(C) High Gain Antenna, HGA- This 1.13-m diameter X-band antenna'; '(E1 & E2) Solar Arrays- Two 5-m long wings, made up of three hinged panels each, adding up to 14 square metres, with more than 1600 solar cells.'; '(F) Orbit Control Thrusters - Oriented in a circle on Hera's underside'; '(B) Reaction Control Thrusters - Two placed on each corner of the Hera spacecraft'; '(A) Asteroid Deck - Hosting all onboard instruments .' ESA, 'Hera's wings of power', OPENED 2026-10-15: 'The van-sized spacecraft is equipped with two 5-m long wings, made up of three hinged panels each.' Michel et al. 2022, iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/PSJ/ac6f52 (CC BY 4.0), OPENED 2026-10-15: 'Its architecture is based on a central tube and adapter cone. It is powered by 13 m 2 of solar panels. It is equipped with a fixed high-gain antenna and two low-gain antennas.' Wikipedia (for the height only): 'The main bus of Hera has a box-shape based on a central tube and adapter cone of 1.6 × 1.6 × 1.7 meters.' DERIVED: each panel 1.37 x 1.7 m. OURS: the instruments' sizes, the yoke's 0.9 m, the dish's place on its face. (read 2026-10-15)
How it was made
Built in code from published dimensions and photographs, with no image-to-3D generator and no one else’s mesh. 3D model: built by Space Radar from ESA's published dimensions and a figure by Michel et al. 2022 (CC BY 4.0).
The full record
built by this project in code (the private tool model-from-images: assemble.py, from a yaml of primitives), from the cited dimensions and the pictures under `references`; no image-to-3D model was used, and no published mesh (NASA Science's 3D models, 100 resources listed 2026-10-15, and NASA's 3D Resources, 1 583 paths, have none of this craft); NO ESA PICTURE OR MODEL IS IN THE FILE: ESA's published numbers were read as numbers. ESA's terms for the images on its site, read 2026-10-15 (esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Terms_and_Conditions): 'The website of the European Space Agency (the ESA Website) provides to users an online access to space images and videos for education, editorial and/or information purposes only. All other uses (e.g. commercial ones) are excluded and require a specific licence.' The layout was read off Figure 6 of Michel et al. 2022 (CC BY 4.0, credited under references); ESA's labelled image of the craft carries the 'ESA Standard Licence' and was looked at only
Where the map uses it. JPL Horizons -91, Hera (data/sample.js `deep-hera`), ESA's planetary-defence probe on its way to the asteroid pair Didymos and Dimorphos: a black box with two three-panel wings, a 1.13 m dish and the asteroid deck. It was the generic probe; public #1084
Licence note. CC BY 4.0 (Figure 6 of Michel et al. 2022, OHB's design with the payload labelled, which the layout was read off: looked at, with credit; nothing of it is in the file); the shape is this project's, under this repository's licence, built from ESA's published numbers (facts). ESA's labelled image (ESA Standard Licence) was looked at only, for the colours. NO ESA PICTURE OR MODEL IS IN THE FILE. NO LOGO AND NO LETTERING is on the mesh.
References 2
What the shape was compared with. None of these pictures is in the file.
- Hera spacecraft designP. Michel et al. 2022, CC BY 4.0CC BY 4.0 (P. Michel et al., 'The ESA Hera Mission: Detailed Characterization of the DART Impact Outcome and of the Binary Asteroid (65803) Didymos', PSJ 3:160 (2022), Figure 6; Commons' LicenseShortName, read 2026-10-15)
- Hera_spacecraftESA-Science OfficeESA Standard Licence (the page's own line, read 2026-10-15): LOOKED AT ONLY for the colours, never fetched by the tool and not on any sheet
Use it
The model is under the MIT licence: use it, change it and share it, in any project, also a paid one. Keep the credit:
Hera 3D model by Space Radar (spaceradar.ai), MIT LicenseAny glTF 2.0 loader that reads meshopt compression (EXT_meshopt_compression) opens the file: three.js with its MeshoptDecoder, Babylon.js, model-viewer. Tools such as glTF-Transform can write an uncompressed copy.
Or embed the viewer in your page:
<iframe src="https://www.spaceradar.ai/model/?id=hera" title="Hera, 3D model by Space Radar" width="600" height="450" loading="lazy" style="border:0;max-width:100%"></iframe>Related models
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