Аннотация:The High Energy Cosmic Ray Observatory (HERO) is an experimental design for the direct study of cosmic rays based on the use of an ultraheavy ionization calorimeter. The effective geometric factor of the facility will be at least 12 m2 sr for cosmic-ray protons and at least 16–20 m2 sr for nuclei and electrons. During 5–7 years of exposure, this mission will allow measuring the energy spectra of all common and rare cosmic-ray nuclei in the energy range 1012−1016 eV/particle with element-by-element resolution of the charge of nuclei and with sufficiently high energy resolution. It is planned to study not only the charge range of cosmic-ray nuclei Z = 1−26, but also the detection of superheavy nuclei beyond the iron peak, as well as high-energy electrons, positrons, and gamma rays. The main objectives, design appearance, and characteristics of the space mission are discussed.