ESA Science & Technology - Publication Archive

Reference: ESA/SRE(2011)1

This report, the so-called Yellow Book, contains the results of ESA's assessment study (Phase 0/A) of the candidate L-class Cosmic Vision mission EJSM-Laplace.

Reference: SRE-PA/2011.003/MNCE

This technical review report for the EJSM-Laplace candidate mission presents the outcome of an ESA internal review of this L-class candidate mission in the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 plan. The review was concluded at the end of the mission assessment phase and carried out in frame of the down-selection for L-class missions to proceed to the definition phase. The review focused on the technical and programmatic elements of the mission.

This document gives a concise overview of the ESA assessment study based on the "Laplace" proposal for the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 call. It describes the work performed during the assessment study, which includes the Concurrent Design Facility (CDF) study and subsequent scientific and engineering work. The aim of this study was to quickly assess the technical feasibility, cost and schedule in the framework of a Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 L-class mission and to prepare the follow-on industrial studies. The transition from the submitted "Laplace" proposal to the ESA/NASA/JAXA joint mission called "Europa/Jupiter System Mission" (EJSM) is documented and the baseline of the ESA contribution to this mission, the Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO), is described in detail.

JEO is the NASA Element of the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM).

The objective of this study, to assess the science merit, technical risk and qualitative assessment of relative cost of alternative architectural implementations as applied to a first dedicated mission to Europa, was accomplished by 1) reviewing results from previous and current studies and 2) examining alternative architectural options relative to the science objectives defined by the 2007 EE SDT. This report summarizes a number of Europa mission and system concepts studied over the last decade as well as the results from assessing alternative architectural options in light of current science requirements.

Prepared by:
Joint Jupiter Science Definition Team
NASA/ESA Study Team

The Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) is a joint endeavour by ESA and NASA.

This Joint Summary Report (JSR) is intended to provide a high-level description of the following: the science rationale and goals; the mission concept; the NASA and ESA responsibilities and interdependencies; the role of other space agencies; and the costs, schedule, and management approach. The JSR also describes the membership and roles of the JSDT and the engineering study teams that supported them and provides a guide to the extensive documentation that has been developed for the mission concept.

ESA's report to the 37th COSPAR meeting (13-20 July 2008) covers the missions of the Science Programme of ESA. This section contains the report on the Cosmic Vision candidate, Laplace.