New Venus commentary mission – World’s first long-term planetary cubesat examine by Korea’s Institute for Primary Science and NanoAvionics
by Workers and Companies
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jun 04, 2025
Kongsberg NanoAvionics (NanoAvionics), a number one small satellite tv for pc bus producer and mission integrator, has been chosen by the Institute for Primary Science (IBS) in South Korea to construct the primary CubeSat for the world’s first long-term planetary science marketing campaign which can use a collection of CubeSats to watch Venus from low Earth orbit.
This long-term Venus commentary initiative, the CLOVE mission (Chasing the Lengthy-term Variability of Our Nearest Neighbor Planet Venus) has been a analysis mission throughout the IBS Planetary Atmospheres Group since 2022. Its first satellite tv for pc, CLOVESat-1, an 8U CubeSat bus to be designed and manufactured by NanoAvionics, is scheduled to launch in 2026. IBS plans to launch a brand new satellite tv for pc each three years over a 15-year interval to span no less than one full photo voltaic exercise cycle (11 years).
Underneath the contract, NanoAvionics may even combine the scientific payload offered by IBS, conduct environmental testing, prepare launch companies, and handle launch and early orbit operations (LEOP).
CLOVESat-1 will examine Venus’s atmospheric temporal variabilities of cloud high altitude, vertical construction of clouds, gaseous sulfur dioxide abundance, and mysterious unknown absorber(s).
LEE Yeon Joo, Chief Investigator of the Planetary Atmospheres Group at IBS, stated: “The payload for this mission was developed by means of a home partnership and displays South Korea’s rising capabilities in planetary science instrumentation. With the assist of NanoAvionics and their flight-proven CubeSat platform, we are going to collect steady space-based knowledge that has been inaccessible by means of earlier missions. The findings will assist us higher perceive the evolving nature of the Venusian environment, its local weather, and the way it compares to Earth’s. We welcome collaboration for house exploration and knowledge evaluation, as we plan to make the info public.”
The primary CubeSat constructed by NanoAvionics will carry devices masking ultraviolet to near-infrared at 4 chosen wavelengths and a complete of eight channels together with polarization filters, which can work in tandem with ground-based observatories.
Atle WOLLO, CEO of Kongsberg NanoAvionics, stated: “This mission displays a rising development in house science, the place small satellites play an more and more necessary function in complementing larger-scale missions. We have already seen this in multimessenger X-ray astronomy, the place NanoAvionics-built smallsats present useful knowledge alongside flagship observatories, filling vital observational gaps and offering extra knowledge factors and agility.
“With greater than 20 research-focused missions utilizing our satellite tv for pc buses to conduct the whole lot from materials analysis to Earth science and astrophysics, CLOVESat-1 will lengthen our platform’s heritage into planetary analysis.”
The satellite tv for pc’s excessive temporal decision knowledge will assist researchers monitor elusive atmospheric adjustments and, over 15 years, present useful perception into Venus’s local weather evolution. These clues could assist scientists higher perceive volcanic exercise, solar-atmosphere interactions, and planetary local weather shifts-such as how a planet as soon as resembling Earth grew to become hostile to life.
Constant and long-term monitoring from follow-up CLOVESats is anticipated to overlap the operative time with the upcoming NASA and ESA Venus missions, DAVINCI, VERITAS, and EnVision. The simultaneous observations by CLOVESats can present a cross-comparison reference of the planet’s time variable reflectance of the worldwide view, whereas the orbiters purchase excessive spatial decision knowledge.
Associated Hyperlinks
Institute for Primary Science
Venus Categorical Information and Venusian Science
