EnVision

Proposed ESA mission to Venus

For other uses, see Envision.

EnVision

Mission type| Venus orbiter
Operator| European Space Agency
Website| envisionvenus.eu
Mission duration| Planned:
4.5 years
Spacecraft properties
Launch mass| 2,607 kg (5,747 lb)
Dry mass| 1,277 kg (2,815 lb)
Payload mass| 255 kg (562 lb)
Power| 2.35 kilowatts
Start of mission
Launch date| December 2031 (planned)[1]
Rocket| Ariane 64[1]
Launch site| Kourou ELA-4
Contractor| Arianespace
Venus orbiter
Orbital insertion| 2034[2]
Orbital parameters
Pericytherion altitude| 220 km
Apocytherion altitude| 470 km
Transponders
Band| X-band, Ka-band[3]

Cosmic Vision

← ARIEL

EnVision is an orbital mission to Venus being developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) that is planned to perform high-resolution radar mapping and atmospheric studies.[4][3] EnVision is designed to help scientists understand the relationships between its geological activity and the atmosphere, and it would investigate why Venus and Earth took such different evolutionary paths. The probe was selected as the fifth medium mission (M5) of ESA's Cosmic Vision programme in June 2021,[2] with launch planned for December 2031.[1] The mission will be conducted in collaboration with NASA, with the potential sharing of responsibilities currently under assessment.

Animation of EnVision's proposed trajectory from 15 June 2032 to 01 March 2034
EnVision ·   Earth ·   Venus ·   Sun Animation of EnVision's proposed trajectory during the aerobraking phase around Venus

## Science goals

[edit]

EnVision will deliver new insights into geological history through complementary imagery, polarimetry, radiometry and spectroscopy of the surface coupled with subsurface sounding and gravity mapping; it will search for thermal, morphological, and gaseous signs of volcanic and other geological activity; and it will trace the fate of key volatile species from their sources and sinks at the surface through the clouds up to the mesosphere. Core science measurements include: high-resolution mapping of specific targets, surface change, geomorphology, topography, subsurface, thermal emission, SO
2, H
2O, D/H ratio, gravity, spin rate, and spin axis. The specific mission's goals are:[3][5]

* Determine the level and nature of current activity
* Determine the sequence of geological events that generated its range of surface features
* Assess whether Venus once had oceans or was hospitable for life
* Understand the organising geodynamic framework that controls the release of internal heat over the history of the planet

A new fleet of Venus missions has been selected, and new mission concepts will continue to be considered for future selections. Missions under development include ESA's EnVision M5 orbiter mission, NASA-JPL's VERITAS orbiter mission, NASA-GSFC's DAVINCI entry probe/flyby mission. The data acquired with the VERITAS, DAVINCI, and EnVision from the end of this decade will fundamentally improve our understanding of the planet's long term history, current activity and evolutionary path.[5]

The scientists who submitted the EnVision proposal in response to the call for proposals for the M5 mission of ESA's Cosmic Vision program are Richard Ghail of Royal Holloway, University of London, Colin Wilson, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, UK and Thomas Widemann, LESIA, Observatoire de Paris and Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin (France).

## Instruments

[edit]

EnVision is an ESA mission in collaboration with NASA, and contributions from individual ESA member states for the provision of payload elements. NASA is contributing the VenSAR instrument and supplies DSN support. The other payload instruments are contributed by ESA member states, with ASI, DLR, BelSPO, and CNES leading the procurement of SRS, VenSpec-M, VenSpec-H and VenSpec-U instruments respectively.[6][3][5]

* Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar (VenSAR), which will operate at 3.2 GHz in the S-band (9.4 cm wavelength). VenSAR will provide several imaging and ranging techniques from a polar orbit: (1) regional and targeted surface mapping, (2) global topography and altimetry, (3) stereo imaging, (4) surface radiometry and scatterometry, (5) surface polarimetry, (6) repeat pass interferometry opportunities. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's S-band synthetic-aperture radar (VenSAR) selected by NASA is currently undergoing scientific, technical and mission assessment. A SAR is a versatile remote sensing technology that has unique capabilities for determining geophysical information often not available by other remote sensing methods. VenSAR will characterise structural, and geomorphic evidence of multi-scale processes that shaped the geological history of Venus, as well as characterise current volcanic, tectonic, and sedimentary activity. The principal investigator of the Venus Synthetic Aperture Radar is Scott Hensley, Jet Propulsion Laboratory NASA/California Institute of Technology.

* Venus Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS), which will be a fixed dipole antenna operating in the range 9–30 MHz. SRS will search for subsurface material boundaries in various geological terrains that include impact craters and their infilling, buried craters, tesserae and their edges, plains, lava flows and their edges, and tectonic features in order to provide stratigraphic relationships at various depth ranges and horizontal scales. The principal investigator of the Subsurface Radar Sounder is Lorenzo Bruzzone, Università di Trento, Italy.[6]

* Venus Spectroscopy Suite (VenSpec), which will consist of three channels: VenSpec-M, VenSpec-H and VenSpec-U. VenSpec-M will provide compositional data on rock types, VenSpec-H will perform extremely high resolution atmospheric measurements, and VenSpec-U will monitor sulphured minor species (mainly SO and SO2), as well as the mysterious UV absorber in the Venusian upper clouds. This suite will search for temporal variations in surface temperatures and tropospheric concentrations of volcanic gases, indicative of volcanic eruptions. The principal investigator of the Venus Spectroscopy suite and PI of VenSpec-M is Jörn Helbert, DLR Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin, Germany. The PI of VenSpec-H is Ann Carine Vandaele, Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA/IASB), Belgium. The PI of VenSpec-U is Emmanuel Marcq, LATMOS, IPSL, France.[6]

* Radio Science Experiment Any orbiting spacecraft is sensitive to the local gravity field, plus the gravity field of the Sun and, to a minor extent, other planets. These gravitational perturbations generate spacecraft orbital velocity perturbations, from which the gravity field of a planet can be determined. EnVision's low-eccentricity, near-polar and relatively low altitude orbit offers the opportunity to obtain a high-resolution gravity field at each longitude and latitude of the Venusian globe.[6]

The analysis of the gravity field together with the topography gives insights on the lithospheric and crustal structure, allowing to better understand Venus's geological evolution. In the absence of seismic data, the measurements of the tidal deformation and proper motion of the planet provide the way to probe its deep internal structure (size and state of the core). The tidal deformation can be measured in the EnVision orbital velocity perturbations through the gravitational potential variations it generates (k2 tidal Love number).

The co-Principal Investigators of EnVision Radio Science and Gravity experiment are Caroline Dumoulin, LPG, Université de Nantes, France, and Pascal Rosenblatt, LPG, Université de Nantes, France.[6]

## Timeline

[edit]

* In July 2022, the Low Earth Orbit Facility (LEOX) facility at ESTEC was testing materials and coatings from the spacecraft to simulate the condition during aerobraking at Venus.[7]
* In January 2024, the mission was officially adopted by ESA’s Science Programme Committee.[8]
* In January 2025, ESA awarded a contract to Thales Alenia Space to build the spacecraft.[9]
* In March 2025, the company Xenics announced an agreement with DLR to provide short-wave infrared sensors for EnVision, as well as for NASA's Venus mission VERITAS.[10][11]
* In 2025, NASA's participation in EnVision came into question after the Republican administration released a budget request for NASA for the fiscal year 2026, which included drastic cuts to the agency's science programmes. ESA's Director of Science Carole Mundell announced that EnVision was among three ESA missions (together with LISA and NewAthena) most impacted by this potential budget reduction on the US side and that “recovery actions” would be required.[12][13]

## See also

[edit]

* Spaceflight portal

* Observations and explorations of Venus
* List of missions to Venus
* Akatsuki, a Japanese Venus orbiter
* DAVINCI, a NASA orbiter and atmospheric probe
* Magellan, a NASA Venus orbiter
* Venus Express, an ESA Venus orbiter
* VERITAS, a NASA Venus orbiter
* Venus Orbiter Mission, an ISRO Venus Orbiter.
* Mapping of Venus
* Volcanism on Venus
* List of European Space Agency programmes and missions

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Foust, Jeff (27 November 2024). "VERITAS Venus mission seeks to avoid further delays". SpaceNews. Retrieved 28 November 2024. "EnVision was still planning a launch in December 2031. ESA recently changed the launch vehicle for the mission from an Ariane 62 to an Ariane 64."
2. ^ a b Jonathan Amos (10 June 2021). "Europe will join the space party at Planet Venus". BBC News. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
3. ^ a b c d R. C. Ghail; C. F. Wilson; T. Widemann; L. Bruzzone; C. Dumoulin; et al. (27 March 2017). "EnVision: Understanding Why Our Most Earth-like Neighbor is so Different". arXiv:1703.09010 [astro-ph.EP].
4. ^ "ESA selects three new mission concepts for study". www.esa.int. ESA. 7 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
5. ^ a b c T. Widemann; S. E. Smrekar; J. B. Garvin; A. G. Straume-Lindner; A. C. Ocampo l; et al. (3 October 2023). "Venus Evolution Through Time: Key Science Questions, Selected Mission Concepts and Future Investigations". Space Science Reviews. 219 (7): 56. Bibcode:2023SSRv..219...56W. doi:10.1007/s11214-023-00992-w. hdl:20.500.11850/637406. ISSN 1572-9672.
6. ^ a b c d e EnVision M5 Venus Orbiter Proposal: Opportunities and Challenges R. C. Ghail, C. F. Wilson and T. Widemann. 47th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (2016)
7. ^ "Readying spacecraft to surf Venus' atmosphere". www.esa.int. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
8. ^ "We're heading for Venus: ESA approves Envision". www.esa.int. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
9. ^ "Signed and sealed: Envision can move towards construction". www.esa.int. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
10. ^ "Xenics partners with DLR to provide advanced imaging for NASA's VERITAS and ESA's EnVision missions - Defence Industry Europe". 18 March 2025. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
11. ^ "VERITAS mission". Exosens. Retrieved 11 April 2025.
12. ^ Parsonson, Andrew (16 June 2025). "ESA Director Says Europe Has the Capabilities to Replace NASA Contributions". European Spaceflight. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
13. ^ Robert Lea (12 June 2025). "European Space Agency reveals 3 key space missions threatened by Trump's NASA budget cuts". Space. Retrieved 19 June 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Official site
* ESA EnVision Definition Study Report, publication date: November 2023
* EnVision deployment video, produced by VR2Planets

* v
* t
* e

Venus

* Outline of Venus

Geography|

| General|

* Arachnoid
* Atmosphere
* Dune fields
* Features
* Mapping of Venus

|

Regions|

| Regio|

* Alpha Regio
* Asteria Regio
* Beta Regio
* Ovda Regio

|

Terrae|

* Aphrodite Terra
* Ishtar Terra
* Lada Terra

Mountains
and
volcanoes|

* Abeona Mons
* Akna Montes
* Anala Mons
* Artemis Corona
* Baʽhet Corona
* Boala Corona
* Ciuacoatl Mons
* Fand Mons
* Fotla Corona
* Gula Mons
* Heng-o Corona
* Iaso Tholus
* Idunn Mons
* Irnini Mons
* Jaszai Patera
* Maat Mons
* Maxwell Montes
* Nightingale Corona
* Onatah Corona
* Ozza Mons
* Pavlova Corona
* Quetzalpetlatl Corona
* Pancake dome
* Renpet Mons
* Sacajawea Patera
* Sachs Patera
* Sapas Mons
* Scalloped margin dome
* Siddons Patera
* Sif Mons
* Skadi Mons
* Theia Mons
* Ushas Mons
* Zisa Corona
* List of coronae on Venus

Plains and
plateaus|

* Guinevere Planitia
* Lakshmi Planum
* Sedna Planitia

Canyons and
valleys|

* Aikhylu Chasma
* Artemis Chasma
* Baltis Vallis
* Dali and Diana Chasma system
* Devana Chasma
* Ganis Chasma

Craters|

* Addams
* Adivar
* Agnesi
* Alcott
* Ariadne
* Aurelia
* Balch
* Barton
* Buck
* Cleopatra
* Cunitz
* Danilova
* De Lalande
* Dickinson
* Goeppert-Mayer
* Golubkina
* Grimke
* Gregory
* Guilbert
* Isabella
* Jeanne
* Maria Celeste
* Mariko
* Mead
* Meitner
* Merit Ptah
* Mona Lisa
* Nanichi
* Riley
* Ruth
* Stefania
* Wanda
* Wheatley
* Yablochkina

Other|

* Geodynamics
* Geology
* Surface features
* Venus snow
* Venusquake

Astronomy|

| General|

* Aspects
* Orbit
* Phases

|

Transits|

* 1639
* 1761
* 1769
* 1874
* 1882
* 2004
* 2012

Asteroids|

* Venus-crosser asteroids
* Venus trojans
* Zoozve

Exploration|

| Past|

* Sputnik programme
* Sputnik 7
* Venera program
* Venera 1
* Sputnik 19
* Sputnik 20
* Sputnik 21
* Kosmos 21
* Venera 1964A
* Kosmos 27
* Venera 2
* Venera 3
* Kosmos 96
* Venera 4
* Kosmos 167
* Venera 5
* Venera 6
* Venera 7
* Venera 8
* Kosmos 482
* Venera 9
* Venera 10
* Venera 11
* Venera 12
* Venera 13
* Venera 14
* Venera 15
* Venera 16
* Mariner program
* Mariner 1
* Mariner 2
* Mariner 5
* Mariner 10
* Zond program
* Zond 1
* Pioneer Venus
* Pioneer Venus Orbiter / Pioneer 12
* Pioneer Venus Multiprobe / Pioneer 13
* Vega program
* Vega 1
* Vega 2
* Magellan
* IKAROS
* Shin'en
* Venus Express
* Akatsuki

|

Gravity Assists|

* Galileo
* Cassini–Huygens
* MESSENGER
* BepiColombo
* Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (planned)
* MBR Explorer (planned)

Planned|

* DAVINCI
* EnVision
* VERITAS
* Venus Orbiter Mission
* Venus Life Finder

Proposed|

* European Venus Explorer
* Venera-D
* VAMP
* VISE
* VISAGE
* VICI
* VOX

Proposed
(crewed)|

* Colonization
* Inspiration Mars (flyby)
* Terraforming

Other|

* Geological mapping of Venus
* Artificial objects on Venus

Related|

* Cytherean
* In culture
* In fiction
* Hesperus
* Life
* Mythology
* Neith (hypothetical moon)
* Phosphorus

* Category
* Portal

* v
* t
* e

Spacecraft missions to Venus

Active missions|

| Flybys|

* Solar Orbiter‡ (en route)
* Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer‡ (en route)

|

Past missions|

| Orbiters|

* Magellan
* Pioneer Venus Orbiter
* Venera 9
* 10
* 15
* 16
* Venus Express
* Akatsuki

|

Flybys|

* Venera 1†
* Mariner 2
* Zond 1†
* Venera 2†
* Mariner 5
* 10‡
* Venera 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* Vega 1
* 2
* Galileo‡
* Cassini–Huygens‡
* MESSENGER‡
* IKAROS
* Shin-en†
* Parker Solar Probe‡
* BepiColombo‡

Descent probes|

* Venera 3†
* 4
* 5
* 6
* Pioneer Venus Multiprobe

Landers|

* Venera 7
* 8
* 9
* 10
* 11
* 12
* 13
* 14
* Vega 1
* 2
* Pioneer Venus Small Probes

Balloon probes|

* Vega 1
* 2

Failed launches|

* Tyazhely Sputnik
* Mariner 1
* 2MV-1 No.1
* 2MV-1 No.2
* 2MV-2 No.1
* Kosmos 21
* 3MV-1 No.2
* Kosmos 27
* 96
* 167
* 482

Planned missions|

| Orbiters|

* Venus Orbiter Mission (2028)
* VERITAS (2031)
* EnVision (2031)

|

Flybys|

* Dragonfly‡ (2028)
* MBR Explorer‡ (2028)
* Tianwen-4‡ (2030)

Descent probes|

* Venus Life Finder (2026-2027)
* DAVINCI (2031–2032)

Proposed missions|

| Dedicated missions|

* Venera-D

|

Flybys|

* Mercury-P
* Uranus Orbiter and Probe‡

Cancelled
or not developed|

* AREE
* European Venus Explorer
* CUVE
* HAVOC
* HOVER
* Inspiration Mars
* Laplace-P
* TMK-Mavr
* VAMP
* Venus Orbiting Imaging Radar
* Vesta
* VICI
* VISAGE
* VISE
* VOICE
* VOX
* Zephyr

Program overviews|

* Venera
* 3MV
* Mariner
* Pioneer Venus
* Vega

Related|

* Colonization
* Observations and explorations
* List of artificial objects on Venus
* List of missions
* Manned Venus flyby
* Terraforming
* VeSpR

* Missions are ordered by launch date. † indicates failure en route or before any data returned. ‡ indicates use of the planet as a gravity assist en route to another destination.

* v
* t
* e

European Space Agency

| Space Centres|

* Guiana
* Esrange

|

Launch vehicles|

* Ariane 6
* Vega C

Facilities|

* Space Operations Centre
* Space Research and Technology Centre
* ESA Centre for Earth Observation
* European Astronaut Centre
* Space Astronomy Centre
* Space Applications and Telecommunications Centre
* Concurrent Design Facility
* Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility

Communications|

* ESTRACK
* European Data Relay System

Programmes|

* Artemis
* ESM
* Aurora
* Copernicus
* Columbus
* CryoSat
* EGNOS
* Galileo
* ELIPS
* ExoMars
* FLPP
* Living Planet Programme
* Space Situational Awareness Programme
* Science Programme
* Cosmic Vision
* PRIDE

Predecessors|

* European Launcher Development Organisation
* European Space Research Organisation

Related topics|

* Arianespace
* ESA Television
* EUMETSAT
* European Astronaut Corps
* European Space Camp
* GEWEX
* Planetary Science Archive

Projects and missions

Science|

Astronomy and
cosmology

* Cos-B (1975–1982)
* IUE (1978–1996)
* EXOSAT (1983–1986)
* Hipparcos (1989–1993)
* Hubble Space Telescope (1990–present)
* Eureca (1992–1993)
* ISO (1995–1998)
* XMM-Newton (1999–present)
* INTEGRAL (2002–2025)
* CoRoT (2006–2013)
* Planck (2009–2013)
* Herschel (2009–2013)
* Gaia (2013–2025)
* CHEOPS (2019–present)
* James Webb Space Telescope (2021–present)
* Euclid (2023–present)
* PLATO (2026)
* ARIEL (2029)
* ARRAKIHS (2030s)
* Athena (2035)
* LISA (2035)

|

Earth observation|

* Meteosat First Generation (1977–1997)
* ERS-1 (1991–2000)
* ERS-2 (1995–2011)
* Meteosat Second Generation (2002–present)
* Envisat (2002–2012)
* Double Star (2003–2007)
* MetOp (2006–present)
* GOCE (2009–2013)
* SMOS (2009–present)
* CryoSat-2 (2010–present)
* Swarm (2013–present)
* Copernicus (2014–present)
* Sentinel-1 / 1A / 1B / 1C (2014–present)
* Sentinel-2 / 2A / 2B / 2C (2015–present)
* Sentinel-3 / 3A / 3B (2016–present)
* Sentinel-5 Precursor (2017–present)
* ADM-Aeolus (2018–2023)
* ɸ-Sat (1 (2020) 2 (2024–present))
* Meteosat Third Generation (2022–present)
* EarthCARE (2024–present)
* Biomass (2025–present)
* Sentinel-4 (2025–present)
* MetOp-SG-A (2025)
* MetOp-SG-B (2025)
* SMILE (2025)
* ALTIUS (2026)
* FLEX (2026)
* FORUM (2027)

Planetary science|

* Giotto (1985–1992)
* Huygens (1997–2005)
* SMART-1 (2003–2006)
* Mars Express (2003–present)
* Rosetta/Philae (2004–2016)
* Venus Express (2005–2014)
* ExoMars (2016–present)
* Trace Gas Orbiter (2016–present)
* Rosalind Franklin rover (2028)
* BepiColombo (2018–present)
* Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (2023–present)
* Hera (2024–present)
* Comet Interceptor (2029)
* EnVision (2031)

Solar physics|

* ISEE-2 (1977–1987)
* Ulysses (1990–2009)
* SOHO (1995–present)
* Cluster II (2000–2024)
* Solar Orbiter (2020–present)
* Vigil (2031)

ISS contributions|

* Columbus (2008–present)
* Automated Transfer Vehicle (2008–2015)
* Cupola (2010)
* European Robotic Arm (2021)

Telecommunications|

* GEOS 2 (1978)
* Olympus-1 (1989–1993)
* Artemis (2001–2017)
* GIOVE-A (2005–present)
* GIOVE-B (2008–present)
* HYLAS-1 (2010–present)
* Galileo IOV (2011–present)
* Galileo FOC (2014–present)
* EGNOS
* European Data Relay System (2016–present)

Technology
demonstrators

* ARD (1998)
* PROBA-1 (2001–present)
* YES2 (2007)
* PROBA-2 (2009–present)
* PROBA-V (2013–present)
* IXV (2015)
* LISA Pathfinder (2015–2017)
* OPS-SAT (2019–2024)
* PROBA-3 (2024–present)

Cancelled
and proposed|

* AIDA
* Ariane 5 ME
* Calathus Mission
* Ceres Polar Lander
* Columbus Man-Tended Free Flyer
* CSTS
* Darwin Mission
* Don Quijote
* e.Deorbit
* EChO
* Eddington
* EXPERT
* Hermes
* Hopper
* LOFT
* Lunar Lander
* Marco Polo
* MarcoPolo-R
* Mars sample return mission
* ODINUS
* Phootprint
* SOLARIS
* SPICA
* STE-QUEST
* THESEUS

Failed|

* Cluster
* CryoSat-1
* GEOS 1
* Schiaparelli EDM

Future missions in italics

* Category
* Commons
* Wikinews
* WikiProject

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template