Europe will go it alone on Venus mission after NASA yanks radar instrument

ESA will continue developing the Envision Venus orbiter despite NASA’s decision not to deliver the promised synthetic-aperture radar. Envision will map Venus’s surface at ten-fold higher resolution than the 1990s NASA radar mission, using the radar to penetrate the planet’s sulfuric-acid clouds and search for active volcanism. ESA will build the spacecraft, its instruments and launch it on an Ariane 6, while NASA will still provide Deep Space Network tracking and communications.