Paris, 11 June 2021. – ESA goes to Venus with EnVision, the European Space Agency said.
The mission was selected by ESA’s Science Programme Committee as the fifth Medium-class mission in the Agency’s Cosmic Vision plan, targeting a launch in the early 2030s, ESA said.
EnVision follows ESA’s Venus Express (2005-2014) that focused on atmospheric research, but also made discoveries that pointed to possible volcanic hotspots on the planet, ESA said.
The Akatsuki spacecraft from Japan’s space agency JAXA is studying the Venus atmosphere since 2015.
“EnVision will significantly improve on the radar images of the surface obtained by NASA’s Magellan in the 1990s. Working together with NASA’s recently announced Venus missions DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, the trio will “provide the most comprehensive study of Venus ever”, ESA said.
