Jupiter Moons Explorer

June 1, 2023

Airbus
Toulouse, France
+33 6 34 78 14 08
www.airbus.com

On April 14, 2023 the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft achieved successful lift-off from an Ariane 5 rocket en route to Jupiter. The European Space Agency (ESA) team at the European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany, took control of the spacecraft and confirmed reception of the first telemetry and the smooth deployment of the solar arrays.

Bringing together 80 partners across 23 countries and harnessing the brainpower of 2,000+ people, Airbus has designed and built JUICE under an ESA contract.

On its over 5 billion kilometer long journey, the 6.2 tonne JUICE spacecraft will make a series of flybys of Callisto, Ganymede and Europa, collecting data to try to understand whether there is any possibility that the moons and their subsurface oceans could host microbial life. Carrying 10 state-of-the-art scientific instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, an ice-penetrating radar, an altimeter, a radio-science experiment, a particle package and various magnetic and electric field sensors, the JUICE spacecraft will complete a unique 4-year tour of the Jupiter system.

JUICE is due to arrive at Jupiter in 2031 after a series of gravity slingshots from Venus and Earth to propel it on its way.

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