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Juventas [ESA]
The Juventas probe is a 6U CubeSat mission to perform low-frequency radar for subsurface sounding as well as a gravimetry measurements of both asteroids' gravity fields in the binary asteroid system (65803) Didymos / Dimorphos.
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.
Juventas carries two payloads:- GRASS (Gravimeter for the Investigation of Small Solar System Bodies)
- JuRa (LFR) Monostatic Synthetic Aperture Radar. The low frequency radar JuRa will provide the first direct probing of an asteroid subsurface and internal structures using two cross dipoles with four 1.5 meter deployable booms.
Juventas is planned to launch with Hera in October 2024 and rendezvous with asteroid Didymos in 2026. It was baselined for an Ariane-62 Astris launch, but in October 2022 a SpaceX Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) was selected.
| Nation: | Europe |
|---|---|
| Type / Application: | Asteroid flyby |
| Operator: | ESA |
| Contractors: | GomSpace |
| Equipment: | JuRa, GRASS |
| Configuration: | CubeSat (6U) |
| Propulsion: | Cold gas thrusters |
| Power: | 2 deployable solar arrays, batteries |
| Lifetime: | |
| Mass: | 12 kg |
| Orbit: | heliocentric |
| Satellite | COSPAR | Date | LS | Launch Vehicle | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juventas | 2024-180 | 07.10.2024 | CC SLC-40 | Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5)(ex) | with Hera, Milani |
Launch Sites:
- CC = Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Eastern Test Range, Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA
