“using the gravity of Earth to send it Venus-bound”<p>While technically correct, this sentence is misleading. The ESA can do better.<p>Passing by a body can deflect a spacecraft. So technically, the Earth’s gravity sends the craft “Venus bound.” But “the gravity of Earth” imparts no net delta-v and wouldn’t on its own allow the craft to reach Venus.<p>A “gravity assist around a planet changes a spacecraft's velocity (relative to the Sun) by entering and leaving the gravitational sphere of influence of a planet” [1]. The Earth’s revolution around the Sun gets the craft to Venus, <i>not</i> the Earth’s gravity.<p>[1] <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist" rel="nofollow">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_assist</a>