TAMPA, Fla. — The European Space Agency (ESA) has awarded Thales Alenia Space a contract worth a total €367 million ($383 million) to lead the development of EnVision, a satellite slated to launch in November 2031 on a 15-month journey to study Venus.
EnVision would carry five scientific instruments and a radio science experiment — on behalf of space agencies from Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and the United States — to provide a comprehensive view of Venus from its inner core to upper atmosphere.
“No other mission has ever attempted such a comprehensive investigation of our remarkably inhospitable neighbour,” ESA science director Carole Mundell said in a statement.
“EnVision will answer fundamental questions about how a planet becomes habitable — or the opposite.”
Onboard instruments would include:
- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR): To map the planet’s surface features.
- VenSpec suite: A collection of spectrometers for high-resolution infrared, ultraviolet and near-infrared observations.
- Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS): To probe beneath Venus’ surface.
- Ultra-stable oscillator: Supporting radio science experiments.
NASA is providing the SAR sensor, called VenSAR, and would also assist with spacecraft communications through its Deep Space Network.
EnVision’s system requirements review is planned for 2025. Thales Alenia Space expects to finalize the industrial team and get full authorization to proceed with the mission’s next steps in June 2026.
Upon reaching Venus, EnVision will rely on aerobraking — a process using atmospheric drag to gradually circularize its orbit. Thales Alenia Space noted this phase, expected to last about a year, poses significant challenges for the spacecraft’s stability and temperature control.
The company plans to draw on its 2016 experience with the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, which successfully used aerobraking around Mars, although the program’s lander failed to land safely, crashing on the planet’s surface.
The initial ExoMars program was a joint effort between ESA and Russia, but geopolitical tensions stemming from the war in Ukraine prompted ESA to pivot to NASA for subsequent mission phases.
EnVision’s aerobraking analysis and the spacecraft’s Attitude and Orbit Control Subsystem (AOCS) are led by Thales Alenia Space’s France division. Germany’s OHB is overseeing the satellite’s mechanical, thermal and propulsion subsystems.
Renewed focus on Venus
EnVision builds on the legacy of ESA’s Venus Express mission, launched in 2005 to study the planet’s atmosphere, surface and plasma environment.
Over eight years, Venus Express revealed key insights, including evidence of volcanic activity and atmospheric superrotation. EnVision aims to take this research further, integrating surface and atmospheric data to unravel Venus’ evolution.
The mission comes amid a broader resurgence of interest in Venus exploration. NASA’s VERITAS and DAVINCI missions to the planet are set to launch in the early 2030s, focusing on Venus’ atmosphere and surface geology.
