JUICE Mission: The European Space Agency (ESA) postponed the launch of its Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission on Thursday, April 13, due to a lightning risk. The mission was scheduled to launch at 5:45 pm IST on Thursday. Ariane 5, a heavy lift launcher developed by French launch service provider Arianespace, will carry the JUICE spacecraft into space from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and the JUICE spacecraft are in stable condition, Arianespace said in a mission update. The new targeted launch date is Friday, April 14, 2023, at 12:14 pm UTC (5:44 pm IST).
Today’s Flight #VA260 has been delayed due to weather condition (risk of lightning) at the scheduled liftoff time from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and its passenger JUICE are in stable and safe condition.
— Arianespace (@Arianespace) April 13, 2023
ESA’s JUICE will make detailed observations of gas giant Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons — Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. JUICE will use a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments to characterise the moons, and discover more about the worlds as potential habitats for past or present life.
More about JUICE
The JUICE spacecraft is equipped with monitoring cameras that will capture parts of the solar array deployment after launch, and a few days later, the deployment of the 16-metre long radar antenna.
The JUICE spacecraft will deploy its various antennas and instrument booms over the two-and-a-half weeks following launch.
In August 2024, JUICE will perform the first of course gravity assist flybys in the inner Solar System.
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The spacecraft will monitor the complex magnetic, radiation and plasma environment of Jupiter in depth, and the planet’s interplay with its moons. One of the primary goals of JUICE is to study the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants across the universe.
JUICE will venture on an eight-year voyage with flybys of Earth and Venus to reach Jupiter. While orbiting Jupiter, JUICE will make 35 flybys of the three large moons, before changing orbits to Ganymede.
JUICE will explore five key mysteries. These mysteries include what Jupiter’s ocean worlds look like, why Ganymede is so unique, the possibility of past life on Jupiter, or if it is potential in the future, how the complex environment of Jupiter has shaped its moons, and what a typical gas giant planet is like.
NASA, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Israel Space Agency have also contributed to the JUICE mission.