EnVision Venus Mission coordinated by our Institute has a contractor

The Czech industrial consortium has confirmed its partnership and involvement in the industrial phase of the Prodex project by signing contracts. The Prodex programme will fund the development of cutting-edge electronics for the EnVision mission in the Czech Republic. As a result, the initial prototypes developed at our institute will now be manufactured by a certified producer, who will deliver the engineering and flight models of the electronic systems for the VenSpec-H spectrometer, designed to study the atmosphere. Symbolically, the Venus mission will also carry the Venus of Dolní Věstonice, the iconic figurine discovered exactly one hundred years ago.

The €2.6 million contract was awarded to a consortium led by TRL Space in collaboration with SAWtronics, AerialComm, and G.L. Electronic. Their goal is to design and produce the electronics for the VenSpec-H infrared spectrometer—one of three scientific instruments onboard the EnVision spacecraft. This spectrometer will enable analysis of the chemical composition of Venus’s upper atmosphere and contribute to our understanding of the processes that transformed it into such an extremely inhospitable world.

Simulation, interpretation, and scientific contribution

The J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry plays a key role in the EnVision mission as the coordinator of the Czech contribution. From a scientific standpoint, the institute is focused on developing models to test components and interpret the data that the VenSpec-H spectrometer will collect during the mission. “We are already developing models and simulations of how the data from the spectrometer will appear in real orbital operations. The aim is to be able to accurately interpret Venus’s atmospheric spectrum from the very first data transmission,” said Martin Ferus, head of the institute’s research team.

According to Ferus, collaboration with industrial partners is crucial to ensuring the successful involvement of Czech science in such a demanding international project: “Although the initial development and preparations for the mission were carried out at our institute, we could not continue our participation without the technical infrastructure and expertise of companies capable of building the electronics to stringent spaceflight standards,” he added.

Symbolism and culture on the journey to the stars

An intriguing aspect of the project is the symbolic link between science and cultural heritage—an outline of the Venus of Dolní Věstonice will be engraved on the spectrometer’s circuit board. The figurine, celebrating the 100th anniversary of its discovery this year, serves as a reminder of the cultural and historical roots of the Czech lands, which will now symbolically reach all the way to Venus. The statue joins a growing list of Czech cultural artifacts sent into space, alongside the Czech flag, a drawing of the Moon by a Jewish boy, the cartoon character Little Mole (Krteček), and the book Songs of the Cosmos (Písně kosmické).

EnVision Mission Launch: 2031

The launch of the EnVision spacecraft is scheduled for December 2031. Its mission will be to analyse the planet’s geological activity, monitor the evolution of its atmosphere, and determine why Venus’s development diverged so dramatically from that of Earth. The mission could provide crucial insights not only into the history of our Solar System but also into the future development of Earth itself.