ESA Awards €367 Million Contract for EnVision Venus Mission Development

The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Thales Alenia Space a €367 million ($383 million USD) contract to lead the development of EnVision, a groundbreaking satellite mission designed to explore Venus.

Scheduled for launch in November 2031, EnVision will embark on a 15-month journey to the solar system’s second planet, aiming to provide unprecedented insights into its geological history, internal structure, and atmospheric composition.

This ambitious mission involves collaboration with multiple space agencies, including those from Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, and the United States. The satellite will carry five sophisticated scientific instruments and a radio science experiment to study Venus from its inner core to its upper atmosphere.

“No other mission has ever attempted such a comprehensive investigation of our remarkably inhospitable neighbour...EnVision will answer fundamental questions about how a planet becomes habitable — or the opposite.” - Carole Mundell, ESA Science Director

Scientific Objectives and Instruments

EnVision’s key mission goal is to understand the divergent evolutionary paths of Earth and Venus, two planets that share similar size and composition.

Scientists aim to uncover the reasons behind Venus' transformation into a scorching, uninhabitable world with a thick atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid clouds.

The spacecraft's scientific payload includes:

• Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR): Provided by NASA, this radar system, known as VenSAR, will map Venus’ surface, identifying geological features and potential evidence of tectonic or volcanic activity.

• VenSpec Suite: A collection of high-resolution spectrometers for infrared, ultraviolet, and near-infrared observations. These instruments will help analyze atmospheric gases and surface composition.

• Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS): Designed to probe beneath Venus’ surface, this radar will search for clues about the planet's geological layers and internal structure.

• Ultra-stable Oscillator: This component will support radio science experiments, enabling precise measurements of Venus’ gravitational field and atmosphere.

NASA will also provide communications support for EnVision through its Deep Space Network, ensuring reliable data transmission across the vast distance between Venus and Earth.

Mission Timeline

EnVision's system requirements review is scheduled for 2025. Thales Alenia Space plans to finalize the industrial team and secure full authorization to proceed with mission development by June 2026.

Upon arrival at Venus in 2033, EnVision will undergo a year-long aerobraking phase. This process will use atmospheric drag to gradually lower and circularize the spacecraft’s orbit, allowing it to collect high-resolution data from various altitudes. Aerobraking presents a major engineering challenge due to Venus’ extreme atmospheric density and heat, which require precise control of the satellite's stability and thermal systems.

Thales Alenia Space has experience with this technique from its 2016 aerobraking operations on the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. While that mission’s orbiter succeeded, its lander component failed, emphasizing the risks of planetary exploration.

For EnVision, Thales Alenia Space’s France division will oversee the Attitude and Orbit Control Subsystem (AOCS) and aerobraking operations, while Germany’s OHB will manage the satellite’s mechanical, thermal, and propulsion subsystems.

A New Era of Venus Exploration

EnVision builds on the legacy of ESA’s Venus Express mission, which operated from 2005 to 2014.

Over nearly a decade, Venus Express provided crucial findings, including evidence of active volcanism and atmospheric superrotation — a phenomenon where Venus' atmosphere circulates much faster than its surface.

EnVision’s integration of surface and atmospheric studies aims to deepen our understanding of how Venus evolved so differently from Earth.

"By studying Venus, we hope to learn more about Earth's own climate history and potential future." - Carole Mundell, ESA Science Director

The renewed interest in Venus exploration extends beyond ESA. NASA has announced two upcoming Venus missions: VERITAS and DAVINCI. Scheduled for launch in the early 2030s, VERITAS will conduct high-resolution surface mapping, while DAVINCI will study the planet’s atmosphere and descend through its dense clouds to capture direct measurements.

Together, these missions mark a resurgence in scientific attention to Venus, a planet long overshadowed by Mars in planetary exploration programs.