Venus Exploration
A renaissance at Venus — a fleet of new missions to map its surface, sound its atmosphere, and understand why Earth's twin became a hell-world.
In brief
The new wave of missions to Venus.
Missions in this theme
- DAVINCIMission conceptIn development · Launch planned around 2030
A NASA Discovery mission to drop a probe through the atmosphere of Venus, measuring its chemistry and origins layer by layer, and imaging the surface as it descends.
- EnVisionMission conceptSelected · Launch planned in the early 2030s
ESA's Venus orbiter, working alongside the NASA Venus missions to understand why Earth's near-twin became so inhospitable — studying the planet as a whole system.
- VERITASMission conceptSelected · Launch expected in the early 2030s
A NASA Discovery orbiter to map Venus in fine detail with radar — its topography, geology, and any active volcanism — revealing how the planet evolved so differently from Earth.
Knowledge connections
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.
- ESAEuropean Space Agency
European missions, observatories, and space science imagery.