The Voyage 2050 released by the European Space Agency (ESA) in its science programme for the time frame 2035- 2050 in June 2021 attracts the global attention of all walks of life. This paper presents a comprehensive and in-depth scientific interpretation of the plan, and it is shown that the Voyage 2050 focuses on major scientific frontiers, looks forward to the future technological innovation, and identifies the top three priorities for the future large-class missions, i.e., the moons of the giant Solar System planets, the temperate exoplanets or the galactic ecosystem, and the new physical probes of the early Universe. In the Voyage 2050, 14 candidate themes are listed for the medium and small missions, several recommendations are made for the key payload technology development for more long-term breakthrough scientific returns, and the importance of training the next generation of space science talents is emphasized.

Voyage 2050  /  space science  /  space science mission  /  cosmos observation  /  solar system exploration  /  earth science  /  space power