Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer, European Space Agency, Paris, France

In May 2022, the Airbus Defence and Space-built spacecraft JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) will head for Jupiter. Its main mission will be to explore the huge planet’s three largest icy moons in the hope of determining whether life is possible on these dwarf planets.
What if extra-terrestrial life does exist? For centuries, this question – which both fascinates and frightens mankind – has remained unanswered. But by the year 2030, some answers may well have been found – with the help of Airbus Defence and Space.

In July 2015, the company was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) as prime contractor for the design, development, production, and testing of a new spacecraft callednamed ‘JUICE’. As its name implies (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), the mission will be to explore the Jovian system, focussing on three of Jupiter’s huge Galilean moons: Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, which are as large as dwarf planets and covered by an icy crust.

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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Juice mission (JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer) is designed to perform detailed observations of the giant gas planet Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Manuela Baroni (ESA Juice AIT and Launcher Interface Engineer) explains the main objective of the mission and Juice’s instruments.

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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Juice mission (JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer) was launched by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) at Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on 14 April 2023, at 12:14 UTC (09:14 local time).

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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Juice spacecraft (JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer) was successfully deployed on a liberation’s orbit, on its way to the Jupiter system, approximately 28 minutes after being launched by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle from Ariane Launch Complex No. 3 (ELA 3) at Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana, on 14 April 2023, at 12:14 UTC (09:14 local time).

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