Imagine a planet so scorching and hostile that it's earned the nickname Earth's 'evil twin'—a world of crushing pressures, acid rain, and a runaway greenhouse effect that makes it utterly uninhabitable. Yet, just as humanity mourns the loss of our last active Venus explorer, a wave of bold new missions is poised to unravel its mysteries in the coming years. Venus has just bid farewell to its final functioning spacecraft, but get ready, because an exciting lineup of explorations could be blasting off in the next decade!
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki orbiter, which had been circling Venus for over a decade far beyond its intended lifespan, was officially pronounced dead last week after relentless efforts to reestablish contact failed. This pioneering probe delivered groundbreaking insights into Venus's hellish atmosphere, capturing details we've never seen before. But here's where it gets controversial—while Akatsuki's legacy inspires these upcoming ventures, some argue that the risks and costs of venturing to such a brutal environment might not be worth diverting resources from more 'promising' destinations like Mars. What do you think: Should we prioritize understanding our toxic twin, or focus on potential human habitats elsewhere?
Now, let's dive into the roster of proposed missions set to study this enigmatic planet. First up is NASA's DAVINCI mission, officially known as the Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging. Priced at around $500 million, this ambitious project is scheduled for launch in the early 2030s and combines an orbiter with a descent probe. The orbiter will scrutinize Venus's swirling clouds and towering mountains during a couple of close flybys, while the 3-foot-wide probe plunges toward the surface, meticulously analyzing the planet's dense, sulfuric acid-filled atmosphere and snapping images of the terrain below.
NASA highlights that DAVINCI will achieve several groundbreaking milestones, such as searching for evidence of an ancient water cycle on Venus. The mission zeroes in on Alpha Regio, a highland area called a 'tessera'—think of it as a rugged, puzzle-like plateau—that scientists have only glimpsed via radar from orbit. These landscapes could be billions of years old, potentially representing some of the oldest surfaces on Venus. Moreover, DAVINCI will be the first to map the chemical makeup of the lower atmosphere, from about 17 miles up down to the ground. This could reveal how gases and compounds behave on and possibly beneath the surface, shedding light on Venus's volatile history. However, there's a major hurdle: DAVINCI is listed among the missions at risk of cancellation in the Trump administration's proposed 2026 NASA budget. And this is the part most people miss—these cuts could cripple our ability to explore Venus, sparking debates about political priorities in space funding. Is it fair to slash budgets for science to fund other agendas, or should planetary exploration be protected at all costs?
Next, NASA's VERITAS mission, which stands for Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography and Spectroscopy, is earmarked for no earlier than 2031. This half-billion-dollar endeavor aims to uncover why Venus and Earth, despite being similar in size, evolved so differently—losing its oceans, magnetic field, and undergoing tectonic shifts that reshaped its landscape. Drawing inspiration from NASA's MAVEN spacecraft (which has been studying Mars's atmosphere since 2014), VERITAS will orbit Venus's poles for a panoramic view of the entire planet. It starts with a highly elliptical path taking 120 hours per loop, but a strategic engine burn will shorten that to just 10 hours.
Then comes aerobraking—a clever technique where the spacecraft dips into Venus's upper atmosphere, using air resistance to slow down gradually over months, saving fuel and allowing more weight for scientific tools. Once aerobraked, VERITAS will complete orbits in about 1.6 hours, sustaining operations for 2.5 Earth years. For beginners, aerobraking is like a natural brake pedal for space travel: instead of wasting precious fuel, the atmosphere does the work, much like how re-entering Earth's atmosphere slows down spacecraft. But, like DAVINCI, VERITAS faces the same threat of being axed under the 2026 budget proposals. This raises eyebrows—why gamble on crewed moon missions when robotic explorers like these could unlock secrets about Earth's past and future? Share your thoughts: Does Venus deserve the spotlight, or are there better ways to allocate our cosmic dollars?
Shifting gears to international collaboration, the European Space Agency's EnVision mission is set to launch no sooner than November 2031 via an Arianespace Ariane 6 rocket. Costing €610 million (about $705 million), this ESA-led effort incorporates a synthetic aperture radar from NASA and relies on the agency's Deep Space Network—those massive radio antennas that keep us connected to probes across the solar system. Unfortunately, NASA's involvement hangs in the balance due to the same proposed fiscal 2026 cuts, as ESA officials noted in a recent Nature article.
After a 15-month journey to Venus, EnVision will spend 11 months aerobraking before settling into a science orbit that loops the planet every 90 minutes. The mission explores the roots of habitability in our solar system, pondering if Venus once mirrored Earth's climate billions of years ago before spiraling into its current oven-like state. Over four Earth years, it will probe from subsurface layers up to the upper atmosphere, tracking the planet's history, climate, and ongoing activity.
EnVision carries an impressive suite of instruments: an S-band radar and microwave radiometer-altimeter for high-resolution surface mapping; three optical spectrometers to detect trace gases (like those from volcanoes) and surface compositions; a subsurface radar sounder penetrating up to 0.6 miles deep; and radio science experiments to map gravity fields, atmospheric makeup, and structure. Imagine it as a multi-tool detective kit for Venus—each instrument peeling back layers of mystery, helping us understand why our neighboring world turned so deadly. But here's where it gets controversial: With budget threats looming, is it wise for ESA to partner with NASA, knowing U.S. funding could evaporate? Does this highlight the fragility of global space efforts, or the necessity of international teamwork?
Venturing into the private sector, Rocket Lab's Venus Life Finder represents the inaugural commercial mission to Venus, teaming up with MIT. This compact endeavor, budgeted at a modest $10 million, will deploy Rocket Lab's Electron rocket and Photon spacecraft to circle Venus about 30 miles above the surface, hunting for life's building blocks—organic compounds—in the planet's clouds. Originally planned for early 2025, delays have pushed it to summer 2026.
A small probe will descend into the atmosphere, collecting data between 37 and 28 miles up, where conditions mimic Earth's and hints of phosphine (a gas potentially linked to life) have been detected. In a brief science window of just three to five minutes, the probe's laser instrument—an autofluorescence nephelometer—will zap cloud particles, analyzing scattered light for details on molecule size, shape, and density. If organic, these might emit a telltale glow, autofluoresce. For those new to this, think of it as shining a flashlight on dust in a dark room to see if any particles light up differently—revealing hidden secrets. And this is the part most people miss—the thrill of private companies like Rocket Lab democratizing space exploration, but at what cost? Could cutting-edge tech from the private world outpace government programs, or does it risk overlooking broader scientific rigor? Weigh in: Should we cheer these affordable ventures, or worry they prioritize profit over thorough discovery?
Finally, India's Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is gearing up for its maiden Venus mission, dubbed Shukrayaan or the Venus Orbiter Mission, no earlier than 2028. Building on successes like the Chandrayaan lunar missions (2008, 2019, 2023) and the 2014 Mars Orbiter Mission, this $147 million project was postponed from 2023. ISRO emphasizes Venus's allure: its thick CO2 blanket, extreme surface pressures, and dynamic ionosphere buffeted by the sun's solar wind—a steady barrage of charged particles.
The orbiter will examine Venus's surface, atmosphere, and solar interactions while testing aerobraking. Its 16 payloads include high-res surface mapping, studies of atmospheric dust and 'airglow' (glowing emissions), subsurface probes, and analysis of solar X-rays near the planet. For example, airglow is like Earth's auroras but in daylight, caused by particles exciting atmospheric gases—imagine a permanent, colorful haze revealing hidden processes. This mission could compare Venus to other worlds, enriching our solar system knowledge.
As we wrap up, these missions promise to transform our view of Venus from a barren hellscape to a key chapter in planetary evolution. But with political budgets threatening to scuttle them, it begs the question: Is exploring Earth's evil twin worth the investment, especially when private innovation like Rocket Lab's offers cheaper alternatives? Do you agree that we should fight for these explorations, or disagree that they're overshadowed by more 'practical' goals? Jump into our Space Forums to discuss the latest on these missions, the night sky, and beyond! If you've got news tips, corrections, or thoughts, reach out to community@space.com.
Elizabeth Howell (she/her), Ph.D., served as a staff writer in the spaceflight channel from 2022 to 2024, specializing in Canadian space news. She contributed to Space.com for a decade from 2012 to 2024, with exclusives from the White House, coverage of a space tomato's saga on the ISS, eyewitness accounts of five human launches across continents, parabolic flight experiences, spacesuit work, and a simulated Mars mission. Her recent book, 'Why Am I Taller?' (ECW Press, 2022), co-authored with astronaut Dave Williams, explores fascinating space phenomena.
