ESA signs €81.2M contract with OHB Italia to build Ramses for a spring 2028 launch

European Space Agency/Ramses

ESA signed the contract that starts construction, assembly and testing of Ramses, four days after its critical design review concluded. The €81.2 million deal brings OHB Italia's total to about €150 million. Tyvak International won €8.2 million for one of the two CubeSats, and JAXA supplies the solar arrays and a thermal infrared imager.

• Critical design review concluded on 6 February 2026.
• Launch planned for spring 2028; JAXA offered a shared launch with Destiny+.
• One CubeSat, Farinella, is named after Italian planetary scientist Paolo Farinella.