The RAMSES mission is (unofficially) going forward. The prime contractor, OHB Italia, has been awarded funding– many millions of Euros. RAMSES, if you aren’t in the loop, is a mission to scout out potentially-hazardous asteroid (PHA) 99942 Apophis before its April 2029 Earth flyby. That’s well before- NASA’s OSIRIS-REx probe will rendezvous with Apophis after the flyby. Earth’s gravity, measured from one side of Apophis to the other, will have a significant gradient, or tide. The tidal force from this exceptionally-close flyby, across an exceptionally-large NEO (near-Earth object), is expected to cause a change in rotation, and surface changes like landslides or more. Having ‘before’ and ‘after’ data will tell us of properties like surface strength, and indirectly Apophis’ mass/gravity, homogeneity/structure, etc. It’s an experiment in nature, by ‘accident,’ if we would just take the data.
Of course, this deal isn’t a done deal. The ESA council hasn’t met, and therefore official approval of the mission cannot have been agreed upon. But since the craft is (mostly) a rebuild of the Hera craft, this will be a quick, straightforward job and an easy win for ESA.