In late 2014, the Solar System Exploration program was established alongside the Planetary Missions Program Office to “execute prioritized planetary science.”

The first mission of the program is DART, an asteroid deflection test targeting 65803 Didymos that launched in 2021. Originally a component of AIDA, DART‘s impact was intended to be observed by ESA’s AIM orbiter, which would continue to study Didymos from orbit. However, the ESA Council at ministerial level cancelled the AIM mission in favour of funding for the ExoMars 2020 rover, citing budget concerns. Despite the cancellation of AIM, NASA committed to their original plan, opting to continue solely with DART. DART successfully impacted Dimorphos, the moon of asteroid 65803 Didymos, on 26 September 2022. Two Europa astrobiology missions are scheduled in the Solar System Exploration program. The Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch in October 2024 on a Spacex Falcon Heavy. The ESA JUICE mission to study Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto will utilize the NASA-built, Solar System Exploration Program-funded Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) and parts of the Particle Environment Package (PEP) and Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) instruments.

Missions:
LICIACube, Deployed 2022, Operational – impact technology demonstration on 65803 Didymos’s satellite.
JUICE, launched 2023, Operational – astrobiology study of Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
Europa Clipper, launching 2024, future – subsurface ocean and habitability study of Europa.

Links:
Solar System Exploration program

Planetary Missions Program Office

NASA Planetary Missions Program

JUpiter ICy moons Explorer

Message in a Bottle