Future Missions
摘要
Four impressive new missions to the Jupiter system are planned with arrival times a few years from now. Two of the missions have already been launched. They are the European Space Agency (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) and the United States Europa Clipper. JUICE has an ambitious mission of orbiting Jupiter, conducting flybys of the icy moons Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, and finally orbiting Ganymede for in-depth study. JUICE was launched on 14 April 2023, and it is expected to arrive at Jupiter in July 2031. The second mission already launched is Europa Clipper, developed by the United States. The mission includes an elliptical orbit around Jupiter that is planned to make 49 close flybys of the moon, Europa. Europa Clipper was launched on 14 October 2024, and it is expected to arrive at Jupiter in April 2030. A third mission, still in development by the United States, is the Dragonfly rotorcraft which is planned to fly in the dense atmosphere of the Saturn moon, Titan. Dragonfly will land on Titan, conduct science investigation at the site, and then take off and fly to a new location. Dragonfly is planned to be launched in 2028 and arrive at Titan in 2034. A fourth mission, under development by China, is the Tianwen-4 spacecraft. Tianwen-4 is planned to orbit the Jupiter moon, Callisto. Launch of Tianwen-4 is projected to be in September 2029 with arrival at Jupiter in 2035.