Juice (ESA)

ESA's Juice will study Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, with 35 moon flybys after it reaches Jupiter in July 2031.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Juice: Mission Status

Cruising. September 2026 Earth flyby complete; next Earth flyby January 2029. Dates per ESA; missions shift.

The Five W's of Juice

Who

ESA, flying ten instruments.

Source: ESA, Juice

What

A spacecraft with 85 square metres of solar wings and ten instruments, studying Jupiter and three ocean-bearing moons.

Source: ESA, Juice

When

Launched April 14, 2023 on Ariane 5; Earth flybys September 2026 (done) and January 2029; arrival July 2031.

Source: ESA, Juice

Where

Jupiter and its moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Source: ESA, Juice

Why

To characterise the icy moons as possible habitats and learn how gas giants and their moons form.

Source: ESA, Juice

Impact Statement

Agency solution · active

ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, launched on April 14, 2023 to study Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, as both worlds and possible habitats. Its September 2026 Earth flyby is done; the next is in January 2029, and it reaches Jupiter in July 2031 for 35 moon flybys. NASA's JPL built parts of its RIME radar, which probes beneath the ice.

Source: ESA, Juice

Comparing ocean moons with our own ocean planet helps explain what makes a world habitable, and how rare Earth is.

For Further Information: ESA, Juice

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