In April 2029, asteroid Apophis will pass just 32,000 kilometres above Earth—inside the orbit of geostationary satellites—and NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft will follow close behind to see what Earth’s gravity did to it

The asteroid Apophis is scheduled to make a very close approach to Earth in April 2029. According to reports from Space Daily and Noticias Ambientales, the asteroid will pass at a distance of approximately 31,600 to 32,000 kilometres. This specific trajectory places the asteroid inside the orbit of geostationary satellites. To analyze this event, NASA will deploy the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft, which is designed to follow the asteroid closely. The primary scientific objective for this mission is to observe and determine the specific effects that Earth's gravity has on the asteroid during its passage. Coverage of the event is appearing across various international outlets, including Medianews.az and El Cronista.

These reports emphasize the rarity of the occurrence, with El Cronista describing it as a rare sky event that millions of people will be able to witness, noting that such an event will not return for generations. The reporting highlights the scale of the asteroid, described by Medianews.az as a giant asteroid. The focus of the coverage remains on the extreme proximity of the object to the planet and the coordinated scientific response by NASA to monitor its trajectory and physical changes. Understanding the context of this event is critical because of the asteroid's proximity to human infrastructure. Space Daily explicitly notes that Apophis will pass inside the orbit of geostationary satellites, which are essential for global communications and monitoring. This proximity raises technical questions regarding the safety of existing space assets.

The scientific community is leveraging this opportunity to study gravitational perturbations, as the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft provides a direct means of observing how a planetary mass influences a smaller celestial body in real-time during a near-miss scenario. Future developments to watch involve the specific timing and safety assessments of the encounter. Noticias Ambientales specifies that the approach is expected on April 13, 2029. Additionally, reports from Operativ Məlumat Mərkəzi raise a critical question regarding whether the Apophis asteroid could potentially collide with space debris during its 2029 transit. Observers and scientists will likely monitor the intersection of the asteroid's path with known orbital debris fields and track the progress of the OSIRIS-APEX mission as it prepares for its follow-up observation role.