The objective of the General Session is to accommodate abstracts within the program group that do not align with the themes of any of the existing sessions in the same program group. Please note that all submitted abstracts may be reassigned to a different session at the discretion of the respective session chairs.

This session welcomes a broad range of presentations about future missions and instrumentation for the exploration of terrestrial and gas giant planets as well as missions and instruments to study exoplanets. We encourage presentations on new planetary science mission architectures and associated technologies, as well as dedicated instrumentation that can be developed for these applications.

The study of Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) is essential today, because as they probably have delivered water and prebiotic elements on early Earth, they can also pose a threat to human civilization. The overall majority of the 3000 new-NEA discoveries each year represent small asteroids (< 150 m). Nonetheless, those can still represent a serious menace toward our planet, causing damages on a regional scale. This is why planetary defense is a task concerning the whole of humanity.

This session explores the critical synergies between the three pillars of planetary defense:

- Observations: We’ll discuss the latest advancements in ground-based surveys and space-borne telescopes tasked with finding and tracking potentially hazardous objects and virtual impactors.

- Modelling: We will cover the computational physics of impact effects, orbital mechanics, and the structural analysis of rubble-pile versus monolithic asteroids.

- Space missions: We will review lessons learned from recent missions, such as DART/LICIACube, and look forward to the next generation of spacecrafts, such as Hera, OSIRIS-APEX, RAMSES and DESTINY+.

Electromagnetic scattering phenomena play a key role in determining the properties of Solar System surfaces based on observations using different techniques and in a variety of wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the radio. This session will promote a general advancement in the exploitation of observational and experimental techniques to characterize radiative transfer in complex particulate media. Abstracts are solicited on advances in numerical methods to extract relevant information from imagery, photometry, and spectroscopy in solid phase, reference laboratory databases, photometric modeling, interpreting features on planetary surfaces, mixing/unmixing methods, AI and machine learning, software and web service applications.

Novel techniques in artificial intelligence have the potential to revolutionise the field of planetary and space science. Recent advances in computing technology have demonstrated the utility of Machine Learning (ML) for analysing the large-scale datasets which are ubiquitous in planetary and space science. These tools have the potential to enable larger scale and more in-depth analyses than have ever been possible before.

Historically ML techniques have had a high barrier to entry for planetary scientists. However, as the use of ML has become more widespread, the techniques have become more accessible, thereby democratising this powerful tool.

This session will bring together researchers who have applied any form of AI, ML or other computational tools to unravel the mysteries of the solar system and beyond. We particularly encourage the discussion of open access and transferable models, as well as presentations which will help promote these techniques to others who are considering using them.

Artificial Intelligence and its subfields such as Machine Learning and Deep Learning are transforming planetary science, offering innovative tools to explore, interpret, and model surface and subsurface features across the Solar System. Thanks to this, the scientific revenue from the application of such technologies is steadily increasing.

This session welcomes contributions reporting original scientific results from AI-driven applications and discoveries concerning rocky bodies of the Solar System such as inner terrestrial planets, satellites, and small bodies.

Possible submissions include but are not limited to the following topics:

- Automated detection and classification of surface features;
- Automated mapping of planetary surfaces;
- Spectral analysis;
- Geophysical properties;
- Tectonics and structural geology;
- Active surface processes;
- Onboard AI/ML for rover/lander operations.

We encourage abstract submissions from early-career scientists.

With the advancement of small spacecraft technology and decrease in launch cost, the opportunities for frequent and focused missions to planetary bodies have increased. Moreover, advancement in instrumentation is enabling increasingly complex in situ science. The goal of this session is to highlight developments where technology advancement intersects innovative mission concepts to enable wider planetary exploration. This includes but is not limited to: small-scale planetary mission concepts, novel instruments concepts, development, and supporting lab/field experiments, innovative small-scale technologies, unconventional planetary exploration concepts and program management approaches for low-cost missions.

The aim of this session is to provide a platform for all aspects related to instrumentation deployed on planetary (solid or liquid) surfaces. The conveners welcome contributions on hard/soft landers and atmospheric entry probes on missions past, present and future: outcomes, lessons learned and new developments. Equal emphasis is on development studies, models and laboratory tests of the next generation of in-situ instrumentation for planetary exploration.

The exploration of the surface and subsurface structure of planetary bodies is of utmost importance for reconstructing their formation and evolution processes. The goal of this session is to bring together scientists, mission and instrumentation developers and the observation community to discuss past, current or future investigations in this field.

We welcome contributions employing radar-based or spectroscopic techniques, including ground-penetrating radar, THz spectroscopy and related active or passive sensing methods to probe shallow to deep subsurface layers. Studies may address laboratory measurements, analogue studies, field campaigns, numerical modeling, instrument development, and data analysis from space missions, landed platforms, or remote observations.

Topics may include, but are not limited to: characterization of subsurface stratigraphy and heterogeneity, detection of volatiles, ice (cryosphere) and organic materials, porosity studies, and regolith studies of planets and small bodies such as asteroids, comets or moons.

Solar and planetary astronomy has always been a data-intensive science, and new observatories and spacecraft are gathering data at an unprecedented scale. However, to maximize the scientific return on this investment, researchers need access to an infrastructure that provides open access to data, correlative data, and common standards for communication and information exchange between repositories. Initiatives like NASA's Planetary Data Ecosystem, Europlanet/VESPA, ESA Datalabs, and NASA's Helio-Cloud are taking the first steps toward building such an infrastructure. We invite contributions showcasing open science opportunities and accomplishments in Heliophysics and Planetary science that highlight one or more of these capabilities, particularly those involving international standards such as IVOA, OGC, IPDA, and IHDEA.

The rapid growth of planetary datasets from orbiters, landers, rovers, and telescopes presents both unprecedented opportunities and challenges for analysis and interpretation. This session explores how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data techniques can transform planetary science by enabling automated mapping, predictive modeling, anomaly detection, and mission planning.

We invite contributions on:

AI applications for planetary surface, atmosphere, and interior analysis

Machine learning for mission data processing and instrumentation optimization

Predictive models for habitability, climate, and exoplanet environments

Integration of heterogeneous planetary datasets through cloud or federated systems

Tools for global collaboration, capacity building, and open planetary data initiatives

This session aims to bring together planetary scientists, data scientists, and technologists to discuss state-of-the-art methods, future challenges, and collaborative opportunities, fostering cross-disciplinary innovation in planetary research.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are rapidly transforming planetary science, enabling the analysis and interpretation of increasingly large, complex, and heterogeneous datasets from current and upcoming missions. Recent advances, such as deep learning, Large Language Models, generative AI, and physics-informed ML, are consistently opening new routes for discovery, allowing for new breakthroughs in fields as diverse as dynamical and observational astronomy, planetary space missions, and astrodynamics.

At the same time, there is a growing focus on model interpretability, uncertainty quantification, physical consistency, and reproducibility to make sure that AI-driven methods lead to strong and reliable scientific knowledge.

This session provides a forum for presenting and discussing state-of-the-art applications of AI and ML across planetary science, as well as emerging methodologies, best practices, and future directions at the interface of data-driven and physics-based modeling.

Planetary materials across the Solar System present a huge diversity in physical (grain size, roughness etc.) and chemical properties (composition, mineralogy, volatile/refractory content, organic/inorganic compounds) or even change of status (liquid, solid and gas).

Laboratory work on cosmo-materials either fallen on earth, returned by space missions or synthetically produced are essential for the understanding of the history of planets, moons, and small bodies. The results of controlled experiments are essential for the interpretations of measurements obtained by ground-based and space observations as well as exploration missions. They are also necessary for planning and preparing future in situ and sample-return space missions, ensuring their success in collecting valuable samples and data.

In this session, we invite submissions related to the analysis of cosmo-materials and to the production, evolution and analysis of planetary, moons and small bodies analogues (interpretation of chemical/physical properties, predictions, preparation of analytical tools or space instruments, preparation of analytical chain for sample return analyses, etc.). Laboratory experiments necessary to interpret data of any past, present and future space missions will be particularly encouraged.

Electromagnetic scattering phenomena play a key role in determining the properties of Solar System surfaces based on observations using different techniques and in a variety of wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet to the radio. This session will promote a general advancement in the exploitation of observational and experimental techniques to characterize radiative transfer in complex particulate media. Abstracts are solicited on advances in numerical methods to extract relevant information from imagery, photometry, and spectroscopy in solid phase, reference laboratory databases, photometric modeling, interpreting features on planetary surfaces, mixing/unmixing methods, AI and machine learning, software and web service applications.

The goal of this session is to cover numerical simulations, artificial intelligence techniques and relevant laboratory investigations related to the Small Bodies (comets, KBOs, rings, asteroids, meteorites, dust), their formation and evolution, and the instruments of their exploration. This session is specially focused on the interdisciplinary approach in the development of models (formal descriptions of physical phenomena), experiments (on ground and in micro-gravity), artificial intelligence techniques (particularly machine learning) and mathematical simulations (computational methods and algorithms of solution) of various astrophysical phenomena: (i) dusty gas cometary atmospheres; (ii) volcanic activity on icy satellites (e.g. Enceladus and Io); (iii) planetary body formation (e.g. via pebbles growth), and planetesimal dynamics.

This session will include an introduction and discussion of new and/or existing laboratory studies in simulated space-like environments and models, experimental techniques, computational methods that can address the results of analytical, experimental and numerical analysis (with respect to computational methods and algorithms of solution) on the above described studies.

Abstracts on thermophysical evolution models of small bodies interiors as well as on the modeling of atmosphere and exosphere are welcome.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is entering its operational phase and will provide deep, wide, multi-band, and high-cadence observations of the Solar System over a decade-long baseline. While LSST will transform population-level studies, this session extends beyond general survey results and catalog-driven analyses.
The session focuses on contributions that link LSST discoveries to physical interpretation and mission-relevant applications. Emphasis is placed on time-domain observations that constrain activity, surface evolution, fragmentation, rotational, and non-gravitational dynamics, together with their implications for mission planning, including target selection and coordinated follow-up.
Contributions addressing survey-to-mission pathways are particularly encouraged, including methodological advances for extracting physically interpretable, mission-relevant parameters from large time-domain datasets. The session also welcomes studies of rare or non-standard transient phenomena, such as anomalous small bodies, “dark comets,” and statistical searches for compact dark-matter flybys, with emphasis on robust observational constraints.
At the interface between LSST discoveries and mission-enabling applications, the session highlights LSST’s role as a pathfinder for future planetary missions through reflecting the emergence of interconnected, time-domain Solar System science, in which discovery and quantitative physical characterisation increasingly proceed in parallel.

The aim of this session is to share the knowledge and experience gained by all Mars science and exploration programmes, both in Europe and worldwide, to promote synergies among the various missions in operations and development. We welcome contributions from any field of Mars science (observation or modelling) and exploration (robotic and human), in particular mission status and instrument overviews of latest scientific results and technical developments. These may include latest scientific results and mission overviews, as well as new challenges, for orbiters (Mars Express, ExoMars TGO, Odyssey, MRO, Tianwen-1, Hope), surface assets (Mars Science Laboratory, Mars2020), and future missions: Escapade, Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), ExoMars Rosalind Franklin Mission, and beyond.

Venus, often referred to as Earth's sibling due to its similar size, mass, and heliocentric distance, remains one of the most intriguing and enigmatic planets in our Solar System. Despite these similarities, Venus has followed an evolutionary path that is drastically different, leading to a hostile surface environment, presenting a profound enigma for planetary scientists.

Following decades of limited exploration, Venus is once again in the spotlight of planetary exploration, with an exciting wave of missions set to transform our understanding of this enigmatic world. ESA's EnVision aims to explore Venus, uncovering clues about its geological history and activity, interior structure, atmospheric composition, and long-term climate evolution. Beyond EnVision, other planned space missions (DAVINCI+, VERITAS, Shukrayaan-1, CLOVE), as well as a diverse array of scientific activities, including ground-based observations, laboratory experiments, analogue studies, algorithm development and theoretical modeling are contributing to a comprehensive understanding of Venus, with a growing need for increasingly consistent coupling between processes and physical layers, from the core to the upper atmosphere.

We welcome contributions from all areas of Venus research, including interior processes, surface geology and geomorphology, atmospheric dynamics, laboratory simulations, and past mission data analysis. By bringing together diverse expertise, this session aims to enhance our understanding of Venus' history and current state, while exploring its broader implications for planetary evolution throughout the Solar System and beyond.

The joint ESA/JAXA mission BepiColombo is entering a decisive and historic phase: its long‑awaited arrival at Mercury and orbit insertion in late 2026. Following six successful Mercury flybys, the mission has already delivered valuable new insights into the Hermean environment and demonstrated the strong complementarity between spacecraft observations, modelling, and ground‑based support.

In parallel, decades of investigations from Mariner 10 and MESSENGER observations to advances in laboratory experiments and numerical modelling have profoundly refined our understanding of Mercury’s origin, formation, interior structure, composition, exosphere and magnetosphere. The imminent start of BepiColombo’s orbital operations marks a unique opportunity to integrate these past achievements with the mission’s upcoming scientific phases.

This session aims to bring together the community as we prepare for BepiColombo’s arrival. We invite contributions in planetary, geological, exospheric, and magnetospheric science based on:

existing data from BepiColombo’s cruise phase and flybys,
heritage datasets from Mariner 10 and MESSENGER,
Earth-based observations,
laboratory and experimental studies,
theoretical and numerical modelling across all relevant domains.
With BepiColombo positioned to enter Mercury’s science phase in early 2027, this session is exceptionally timely. By synthesizing diverse perspectives and preparing the community for the mission’s next chapter, we seek to maximize the impact of BepiColombo’s forthcoming observations and advance our global understanding of Mercury during this transformative period.

Moon exploration has once again become a major objective within the scientific community. Several space agencies are preparing for in situ robotic and human exploration missions (Rashid 3, LUPEX, MAGPIE, Chang’e 7, Chang’e 8, NASA’s CLPS program missions, ESA's PROSPECT package, and Artemis missions).
This session aims to bring together scientific studies of the lunar surface and subsurface that can help pave the way for upcoming space missions. We welcome studies that support the planning of future missions, including—but not necessarily limited to—remote sensing, geological mapping, in situ measurements, laboratory and analog experiments, sample analyses, and modeling. Topics include:
• Resource potential, including the detection and distribution of OH/H₂O, water ice and other volatiles or mineral resources relevant for future utilization
• Use of spectral, thermal, radar, and geophysical data for lunar surface and subsurface characterization
• Mineralogical and geological characterization of key terrains
• Regolith physical and mechanical properties (e.g., grain size, porosity, density, thermal inertia, mechanical strength)

Saturn's moon Titan, despite its satellite status, has nothing to envy the planets: it has planetary dimensions, a substantial and dynamic atmosphere, a carbon cycle, a variety of geological features (dunes, lakes, rivers, mountains and more), seasons, and a potential hidden ocean. It even now has its own mission: Dragonfly, selected by NASA in the frame of the New Frontiers program. In this session, scientific presentations are solicited to cover all aspects of current research on Titan: from its interior to its upper atmosphere, using data collected from the Cassini-Huygens mission (2004-2017) and/or from telescopes (e.g., ALMA, JWST) and/or based on modelling and experimental efforts to support the interpretation of past and future observations of this unique world.

Exoplanets are being discovered in large numbers thanks to recent and ongoing surveys using state-of-the-art instrumentation from the ground and space. In the next few years, new astronomical instruments (such as Nancy Grace Roman, PLATO, CHORUS, SAXO+, ANDES, Ariel, ELF, HWO and others) will scout ever more distant regions of our Galaxy, and they will validate new technology for the ultimate direct characterisation of temperate exoplanets. Such a change in the physical and technological horizons will allow us to overcome current observational biases in the search for alien worlds and to gain a deeper understanding of the chemical and physical properties of exoplanets and the environments that surround them. Ultimately, we will be able to unveil processes of formation and evolution of planets, together with those of their atmospheres, on a scale much larger than our Solar Neighbourhood.

The goal of this session is to bring together the instrumentation and observational communities that are underpinning the future of this field. Contributors are invited to review ongoing programmes of discovery and characterisation of both exoplanet and circumstellar discs, to update on the progress of planned instrumentation programmes, and to present innovative ideas for future instrumentation.

Space missions have delivered a wealth of observations of the atmospheres and aeronomy of rocky planets and moons, from the lower atmosphere to regions interacting directly with the solar wind. With recent advances and forthcoming missions, planetary atmospheric science is entering a particularly active phase. This session invites contributions on the physical and chemical processes shaping the lower, middle, and upper atmospheres of terrestrial bodies in the Solar System, including atmospheric chemistry, energetics, dynamics, electrodynamics, atmospheric escape, surface–atmosphere interactions, and coupling with the space environment.
We welcome studies based on spacecrafts (e.g., Messenger, BepiColombo, Venus Express, Akatsuki, EnVision, Davinci, Mars Express, MRO, TGO, EMM, MAVEN, MMX, among others), ground-based observations, comparative planetology, numerical modelling, and laboratory experiments.
In view of upcoming ESA and NASA Venus missions, contributions addressing current understanding, open questions, and preparatory studies of the Venus atmosphere are particularly encouraged. The session will include solicited and contributed oral presentations, as well as posters.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing planetary sciences, enabling new insights from vast and complex datasets, both for solar system exploration and the study of exoplanets and brown dwarfs.

This session will explore AI-driven approaches for studies, focusing on innovative techniques such as image analysis, curriculum learning, diffusion models, generative models for data augmentation and simulation, machine learning techniques for analyzing large-scale surveys. We will also discuss applications of natural language processing for scientific literature mining, and uncertainty quantification in AI-driven models. By bringing together experts in AI and exoplanetary science, this session aims to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and advance the field.

Every modern scientist will, at one time or another, face the challenge of growing a community around their project, and give it an identity easily recognisable by the said-community. Whether a small research group or an international organisation, building proactive community may be the key to unlocking greater collaboration and scientific achievement.

In this session, we will explore key tools for community-building. We welcome contributions from all occupations and backgrounds in planetary science. Early-career scientists are especially encouraged to attend - the sooner we learn these skills, the more time we have to use them.

What should you expect from this session? And how can you contribute?

- Building identity: branding, visual identity (e.g., logo, motto, etc.) online, as well as at events and in the media: how do you make your brand recognisable?
- Social media presence, exchange tools and websites: how do you grow your online community?
- Community-building tips and tricks: what works and what doesn't?
- Networking and lobbying for your community: how can you find key stakeholders to support your project?
- Diversity and inclusion: how do we ensure our projects benefit from diverse participation, while circumventing inter-cultural tensions?
- Involving the public in research: how can your community-building effort can benefit from Citizen Science and Pro-Amateur collaborations?

This is an Open Session on Lunar Science and Exploration. Key themes include innovative science on the deep interior, subsurface structure, surface morphology, up to exospheric dynamics and the solar wind interaction. Studies can make use of lunar missions data, lunar samples, meteorites, terrestrial analogues, laboratory experiments, theoretical work and modeling efforts.

We welcome all relevant contributions — theory, observations, instruments, experiments, analogues — from experts of different fields including science, engineering, industry, agencies, human exploration, resources, economy and policy.

The number of Lunar exploration missions in preparation and planned to arrive and operate at the lunar surface in the next decade is growing at a fast pace. Those missions will have to study, operate in, and survive the lunar environment. They will also perturb and modify the pristine environment significantly. The lunar space environment is a highly dynamic system governed by coupling processes between the solar wind/magnetospheric plasma, energetic particles, neutral and dust exosphere, lunar regolith and near surface dust, and magnetic anomalies. In recent years, almost all space agencies and many private companies and universities have been active in the preparation of new missions to the moon. Characterizing the pristine state as early as possible before it is contaminated by human activity (e.g. due to lunar landings or surface units outgassing) is of interest.

The session is supported by ILEWG LUNEX EuroMoonMars, the COSPAR PEX Panel on Exploration and COSPAR SCB commission (Space Studies of the Earth-Moon System, Planets, and Small Bodies)