SPACE TALKS 2 | Giuseppe Sarri from European Space Agency

Giuseppe Sarri holds more than 25 years of experience working at the European Space Agency, on missions such as Planck, Gaia or Columbus. He is currently JUICE Project Manager and his pioneers our video interview series with ESA in the frame of conversations with SPACE MARKET KEY STAKEHOLDERS.

JUICE – JUpiter ICy moons Explorer – is the first large-class mission in ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme. Planned for launch in 2022, it will take seven years to reach Jupiter in 2029. It will spend at least three years making detailed observations of the giant gaseous planet Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

In this second podcast, Mr Sarri offers us a view of the current phase of the mission, some highlights about ESA projects and much more.

Topics treated

• Mission objectives.
• JUICE currently in phase D, running the integration of the flight model.
• Significant ESA role in science development.
• Large solar arrays to ensure availability of power when in Jupiter.
• A big challenge of the thermal control system.
• Very high level of radiation, the mission will withstand that drove all main technical decisions.
• Autonomy around Jupiter, high amount of fuel needed.
• The biggest issue ahead: Time. A delay of a few months in the launch window can make the mission last two more years with related costs implications.
• A large number of contracts/partnerships in the range of 200 hundred.
• Future missions to come.
• The project run successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic