Frequently Asked Questions

ExMedia is the story engine that supports ExLabs Missions, preparing the attention economy for a paradigm shift globally — harnessing the gravity of the highest-visibility event in history: Apophis. ExMedia captures, produces, and distributes stories (IMAX, podcasts, docs, series, film, art) related to deep space exploration and the commercialization of space.

We are looking for partners and sponsors to join us on upcoming events, content campaigns, and missions. If interested, email jason@exlabs.space.

Earth Close Approach: April 13, 2029. Apophis will pass within 19,000 miles (~31,600 km) of Earth \u2014 inside the geostationary satellite orbit. See NASA JPL Asteroid Watch for live tracking.

99942 Apophis is a 370-meter near-Earth asteroid discovered in 2004. Initially given a 2.7% chance of hitting Earth in 2029, further observations ruled out impact. It’s named after the Egyptian god of chaos. More details on the JPL Small-Body Database.

No. NASA and ESA have conclusively ruled out any impact risk for the 2029 flyby and for at least 100 years beyond. See JPL Sentry: Earth Impact Monitoring.

Yes. During closest approach on April 13, 2029, Apophis will be visible as a moving point of light from parts of Europe, Africa, and western Asia — no telescope needed.

Apophis travels at roughly 30.98 km/s (about 69,300 mph) relative to the Sun \u2014 over 86× the speed of a rifle bullet. Orbital parameters are available on JPL Horizons.

ApophisExL is ExLabs’ planned mission launching April 2028 — the first commercial rideshare to deep space, rendezvousing with Apophis before its historic Earth flyby.

The 2029 flyby is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study a large asteroid at close range, testing detection and tracking systems critical for deflecting future threats. Learn more from NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX mission.

Closer than geostationary satellites (35,786 km). About 1/12th the distance to the Moon. If Earth were a basketball, Apophis would pass about 7.5 cm away.

Earth’s gravity will bend Apophis’s trajectory, changing its orbital period from ~324 days to ~390 days and shifting it from an Aten-class to an Apollo-class asteroid.

We use osculating orbital elements from JPL Horizons (NASA), pre-computed daily from Feb 2026 through April 2029, with a Kepler equation solver for real-time interpolation.

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