Each agency will bring its own spacecraft to the Europa Jupiter System Mission, in an attempt to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter and its four moons, Io, Europa, Ganimede and Callisto. The launch has been estimated for 2020, when the two vehicles will launch from two separate launch sites.

 

One of the spacecrafts will orbit Europa, while the other one will orbit Ganymede, researchers said. The goals of the mission are to establish what causes the magnetic field of Ganymede - the largest moon in the solar system, to assess the habitability of icy Europa, as well as to get a clearer insight into the history of the Solar System, through Callisto’s heavily cratered surface.

 

The Saturn mission would include a NASA orbiter and an ESA lander, the two agencies revealed. The mission however will take longer to assess, and developing new technologies will prove an important asset in making it successful. The approximate date for this mission still remains unknown.

 

Ed Weiler, associate administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, called this a win situation for all parties involved. And despite the fact that the Jupiter mission is now set to take place at an earlier date, the Saturn mission remains a priority, he continued.