Call for Membership of the EnVision EuroSAR Science Team

Through this Call, the European Space Agency (ESA) invites scientists based in ESA Member States to apply for membership of the EuroSAR Science Team (EST) of the EnVision mission.

The Envision scientific payload consists of five instruments and one experiment to address the mission science objectives (see Envision Definition Study Report). The S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar VenSAR will perform targeted surface imaging as well as polarimetric and stereo imaging, radiometry, and altimetry. The high-frequency Subsurface Radar Sounder (SRS) will perform first-time sounding of the upper crust in search of material boundaries. The three spectrometers, VenSpec-U, VenSpec-H and VenSpec-M, operating in the UV and Near-IR, will map trace gases, search for volcanic gas plumes above and below the clouds, and map surface emissivity and composition. The Radio Science Experiment (RSE) will exploit the spacecraft Telemetry Tracking and Command (TT&C in Ka-/X bands) system to determine the planet’s gravity field and to sound the structure and composition of the middle atmosphere and cloud layer in radio occultation.

As a backup for the provision of the Synthetic Aperture Radar VenSAR, currently provided by NASA, ESA is launching an Invitation to Tender for a competitive phase B1 activity to mature a European Synthetic Aperture Radar (EuroSAR) instrument. The EuroSAR requirements are kept the same as for VenSAR, ensuring the same science performance and compatibility to the Envision spacecraft interfaces and resources. In this way, the overall impact on the mission would be minimised. The instrument is a dual polarisation S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar that is designed to; (i) image selected regions of the Venus’ surface at 30 m and 10 m resolution and search for surface change through repeat imaging and comparison to radar images from earlier missions, (ii) provide improved regional and global topography information from stereo imaging and altimetry, and (iii) provide polarimetric imaging and radiometric measurements of the surface allowing scientists to derive surface property information. The instrument Phase B1 activity will incorporate design and technology maturation activities. The expected timeline targets an instrument Phase B1 Kick-Off in June 2026 and an overall duration of 6 to 9 months.

The current call for membership of the Envision EuroSAR Science Team (EST) aims to establish a team of scientists to assist ESA and the Envision Science Working Team (SWT) regarding Venus SAR imaging, altimetry and radiometry in support of the EuroSAR definition. Should EuroSAR replace VenSAR, the team will continue to offer scientific expertise during subsequent EuroSAR phases, thereby maintaining continuity and preserving knowledge. The EST will comprise leading scientists specialising in Venus, planetary, and/or Earth SAR, altimetry, and radiometry signal processing, retrieval, and data exploitation for the EuroSAR instrument application areas required by Envision’s science objectives.

Call Documentation

An invitation from the ESA Director of Science to respond to this Call can be found in the right-hand menu.

Full details of the appointment requirements and conditions, the required contents and format of the application are given in the Call document, available to download from the right-hand menu.

Schedule

The schedule for this AO is given in the table below:

Application Submission form

Applications must be submitted using the online form – see link to the form below.

An acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the applicant at the email address provided, upon successful submission of the proposal

Late submissions will not be considered. The submission deadline will be implemented strictly and applicants are invited to submit their application well in advance of the deadline.

Privacy notice for this Call

Any individual responding to this Call must provide some personal data as part of the submission process. Protection of personal data is of great importance to ESA. This privacy notice describes important aspects of how the data submitted for this Call will be treated. Please read the privacy notice carefully.

By ticking the checkboxes presented to you when submitting your application, you confirm that you agree with the collection and further processing of your personal data. You will not be able to submit your application without providing this consent as it is required to further process your application.

Contact

Further queries should be addressed to:

Yannis Zouganelis
Solar System Science Coordinator
Directorate of Science
ESA/ESAC - Madrid, Spain
E-mail: yannis.zouganelis@esa.int

and

Anne Grete Straume-Lindner
EnVision Project Scientist
Directorate of Science
ESA/ESTEC - Noorwijk, The Netherlands
E-mail: anne.straume@esa.int

Application Submission Tool

Last updated: 26 March 2026

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