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Space Topics: Venus Express

Mission Facts

Mission Timeline

Launch date:  November 9, 2005 at 03:33:34 UTC
Venus arrival: April 11, 2006 at 08:00 UTC
Primary mission end: September 2008 (after two Venus sidereal days)
Possible extended mission: January 2010 (after two more Venus days)

Orbit

Shape: Highly elliptical, nearly polar
Pericenter Altitude: 250-400 kilometers, near north pole
Apocenter Altitude: 66,000 kilometers, near south pole
Period: 24 hours

Spacecraft

Spacecraft mass:

• Total: 1,244 kilograms
• Instruments: 104 kilograms (7 instruments)
• Fuel: 530 kilograms

• Body: approximately 1.65 x 1.7 x 1.4 meters
• High gain antenna: 1.3 meters diameter

Mission cost

220 million Euros