- Launch Date April 14, 2023
- Arrival Date July 14, 2031
- Mission TypeOrbiter
- TargetJupiter System
Mission Overview
The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission, and the first large-class mission in the ESA Cosmic Visions 2015-2025 programme. The mission is designed to spend at least three years collecting data at Jupiter, and will observe three of the planet’s icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. NASA is partnering with ESA for the JUICE mission, and will provide instruments and components for the spacecraft. The mission launched successfully on April 14, 2023, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana
Relevance to Astrobiology
By studying Jupiter and its moons, JUICE will help astrobiologists understand how habitable worlds might emerge around gas giant planets. The icy moons of Jupiter are also primary targets for astrobiology research in the Solar System. Moons like Europa are believed to harbor oceans of liquid water beneath their icy surfaces, and it is possible that these oceans could be habitable for life as we know it.
NASA Involvement
NASA provided the Ultraviolet Spectrograph (UVS) for the JUICE mission, as well as subsystems and components for two additional instruments: the Particle Environment Package (PEP) and the Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) experiment.