| Spacecraft name | Juventas |
|---|---|
| Type | CubeSat |
| Units or mass | 6U |
| Status | On spacecraft (On Hera, to be released in early 2027) |
| Launched | 2024-10-07 |
| NORAD ID | On spacecraft |
| Deployer | Deep Space Deployer (DSD) [ISISpace] |
| Launcher | Falcon 9 (Hera) |
| Organization | ESA (European Space Agency) |
| Institution | Space agency |
| Entity type | Government (Civil / Military) |
| Nation (HQ) | France |
| Nation (AIT) | Denmark |
| Manufacturer | AIVT by GomSpace |
| Partners | GMV, Astronika |
| Costs | $13 million to deliver spacecraft and payloads. Single platform: $7.2M for GomSpace |
| Oneliner |
Carry a low-frequency radar for subsurface sounding as well as a gravimeter to measure both asteroids' gravity fields. |
| Description |
Carry a low-frequency radar for subsurface sounding as well as a gravimeter to measure both asteroids' gravity fields. It will also perform radio science measurements and measure the forces involved in its concluding landing on the smaller of the two asteroids, at the end of its month-long mission. Deploy a metre and a half long radar antenna, which will unfurl like a tape measure, and was developed by Astronika in Poland. This instrument is based on the heritage of the CONSERT radar that flew on ESA’s Rosetta comet chaser. The radar signals should reach one hundred metres down, giving insight into the asteroid’s internal structure. Will also be gathering data on the asteroid’s gravity field using both a dedicated 3-axis ‘gravimeter’. Once the radar science and radio science observation objectives have been met, Juventas will perform an attempted landing on the surface of Didymoon to research its dynamical properties. |
| Sources | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] |
| Photo sources | [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] |
| COTS subsystems |
|
| Subsystems sources | [1] |
| Keywords | Beyond Earth orbit, Propulsion, Asteroid prospecting, Steerable Solar Arrays |
| On the same launch |
Last modified: 2025-04-23
