NASA's Venus missions gain momentum after years of budget uncertainty
Two U.S. missions and international probes are now on track to launch to Venus in the early 2030s, ending a 30-year gap in NASA's Venus exploration.
What happened
NASA has accelerated its DAVINCI mission to a December 2030 launch date, one year earlier than previously planned. The mission will send a parachute-assisted probe through Venus's atmosphere to return the first direct surface images since 1982. A second NASA mission, VERITAS, is scheduled for November 2032 to map Venus by radar from orbit. The European Space Agency's Envision orbiter will also launch in 2032. Additionally, Rocket Lab aims to launch a privately funded probe as soon as next year (or in late 2027) to search for signs of organic material in Venus's clouds. These developments follow NASA and ESA's selection of three Venus missions for development in June 2021, after which VERITAS nearly faced cancellation due to budget pressures in NASA's planetary science division stemming from delays and cost overruns in other projects.
Context
Venus has received minimal exploration attention for decades compared to Mars and other destinations, despite being closer to Earth than any other planet and therefore the easiest to reach. NASA's last Venus mission, Magellan, ended in 1994 and provided only limited surface resolution. Venus remains less well mapped than Mars, and scientists lack complete understanding of what caused its transformation into an inhospitable world with extreme temperatures, crushing atmospheric pressure 93 times that of Earth's sea level, and toxic sulfuric acid clouds. The renewed Venus exploration agenda represents a significant shift in priority and could substantially advance scientific knowledge of planetary atmospheres and climate evolution.