SEAFARER: Navigating Unknown Seas : An L4-class space mission concept for the exploration of the Saturnian System developed during the ESA 2024 Summer School Alpbach

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Weichbold, Fabian and Quirino, Diogo and BOUIS, Agathe and Vaghi, Samuele and Placke, David and Ohm, Anike and Wiltenburg, Julia and González, Eléna Sango and Affatato, Vincent and Buerger, Johanna and Quanten, Brent and Ntinos, Christos and Baudel, Boris-Alexandre and Daly, Colm (2025) SEAFARER: Navigating Unknown Seas : An L4-class space mission concept for the exploration of the Saturnian System developed during the ESA 2024 Summer School Alpbach. In: Europlanet Science Congress - Division for Planetary Sciences Joint Meeting 2025, 2025-09-07 - 2025-09-12. (https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc-dps2025-874)

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Abstract

The golden era of the NASA/ESA/Cassini-Huygens mission to the Saturnian system was marked by notable discoveries, such as Enceladus’s plume and the complexity of Titan’s climate. New scientific questions stem from this initial exploration of the Saturnian system that call for an updated set of instruments capable of addressing them. During an 11-day work in Summer School Alpbach 2024, a European team of early career scientists and engineers developed an L4 mission concept dedicated to the Habitability of the Saturnian System within the framework of the long-term strategic plan of ESA Voyage 2050. SEAFARER (Surveying Environments Across the Saturnian system For hAbitability ResEaRch) combines a Saturn-Titan orbiter, coupled with an atmospheric probe to Saturn and a Titan sea lander (drifter) to be deployed in Kraken Mare

ORCID iDs

Weichbold, Fabian, Quirino, Diogo, BOUIS, Agathe ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6671-2583, Vaghi, Samuele, Placke, David, Ohm, Anike, Wiltenburg, Julia, González, Eléna Sango, Affatato, Vincent, Buerger, Johanna, Quanten, Brent, Ntinos, Christos, Baudel, Boris-Alexandre and Daly, Colm;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)