The declared mission named the Venus Volcano Imaging, and Climate Explorer (VOICE) is supposed to launch in 2026 and reach orbit around the hottest and brightest planet in the solar system in 2027, as per the details from a July 9th meeting to discuss the mission.
The spacecraft is going to use a circular polar orbit with a height of 220 miles to investigate Venus’ geological evolution, the thermal and chemical procedures in the planet’s atmosphere, the surface-atmosphere interchanges, and the potential for a habitable environment and life in the Venusian clouds.
Science instruments will include an S-band polarimetric synthetic aperture radar, which can peer through the Venusian clouds and map the surface, and a multispectral imager that will spectate Venus in the ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths.
VOICE is a mission for a space science program relatively separate from China’s primary lunar and planetary exploration missions overseen by the China National Space Administration (CNSA), which include the ongoing Tianwen 1 Mars mission and the intended Tianwen 2 near-Earth asteroid and Mars sample-return missions.
It is not yet known how many missions will be approved; however, the candidates will be evaluated in the near future based on the available budget, technology readiness, and manufacturing schedule.
Other suggestions are in astronomy and astrophysics, exoplanets, and heliophysics.
