TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 South Korea\u2019s state-backed Institute for Basic Science (IBS) has ordered the first of five cubesats to study Venus from low Earth orbit (LEO) starting next year, bolstering sustained planetary research as flagship missions face budget uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Lithuania-based NanoAvionics announced June 2 it had secured a contract to provide an 8U satellite for CLOVE, or Chasing the Long-term Variability of Our Nearest Neighbor Planet Venus. The spacecraft would carry ultraviolet and near-infrared sensors from IBS to monitor Venus\u2019 atmosphere.<\/p>\n
IBS aims to deploy a new CLOVE satellite every three years over a 15-year period, covering at least one full 11-year solar cycle in total, to collect data that could shed more light on how Earth\u2019s sister planet evolved into a hostile world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis mission reflects a growing trend in space science, where small satellites play an increasingly important role in complementing larger-scale missions,\u201d NanoAvionics CEO Atle W\u00f8llo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
More than 20 research-focused missions have used the company\u2019s satellite platform to date, W\u00f8llo said, ranging from materials research to Earth science and astrophysics. CLOVESat-1 would be the first satellite NanoAvionics has built for planetary research.<\/p>\n
Planetary science from LEO<\/strong><\/p>\n Venus appears close to the Sun from Earth\u2019s perspective, enabling a satellite in LEO to observe the planet during daylight passes for roughly half of each orbit.<\/p>\n \u201cLEO has a clear advantage over many launching opportunities, so we do not need to limit follow-up satellites to special launching windows,\u201d Lee Yeon Joo, chief investigator of the Planetary Atmospheres Group at IBS, said via email.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother important benefit is the cost-efficiency of operating small satellites in LEO as it doesn\u2019t involve the complexities and risks of interplanetary mission planning.\u201d<\/p>\n Deploying successive satellites would also help minimize the effects of instrument aging, which Lee said would provide more consistent data for a \u201ctime series\u201d of Venus-disk reflectivity than relying on a single long-duration mission.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, a planetary mission can provide excellent spatial resolution and complex instruments with operation plans, which a cubesat cannot achieve easily,\u201d Lee added. \u201cThe CLOVESats\u2019 data will complement planetary missions.\u201d<\/p>\n However, three major upcoming Venus missions face an uncertain future<\/a> amid steep proposed cuts to NASA science programs under the Trump Administration\u2019s fiscal year 2026 budget request, subject to Congress approval.<\/p>\n NASA\u2019s DAVINCI and VERITAS programs are in line for cancellation, while the agency would also end its participation in the European Space Agency\u2019s EnVision mission.\u00a0<\/p>\n