EnVision

Mission Profile

EnVision is an ESA mission selected in 2021 as a Medium-class mission to conduct a comprehensive orbital investigation of Venus, planned for launch in the early 2030s aboard an Ariane 6 rocket. The spacecraft will use three suites of instruments — an S-band synthetic aperture radar, a subsurface sounder, and a spectrometer suite — to map Venus's surface, probe its subsurface, and characterize its atmosphere at 50 m radar resolution, twenty times sharper than Magellan. EnVision will search for evidence of current volcanism, measure crustal deformation, and determine whether Venus has a stable or geologically active lithosphere, directly addressing why Earth and Venus — seemingly twin planets — evolved so differently. It will fly in coordination with NASA's DAVINCI and VERITAS missions for a comprehensive international Venus exploration campaign.