JUICE: Mission to Jupiter

JUICE: Mission to Jupiter

JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) is an ESA-Mission to explore the waterrich moons Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa of planet Jupiter. Also of interest is the characterization of Jupiter's atmosphere and magnetosphere.

JUICE will be launched in April 2023 with an Ariane 5 rocket. After four Gravity Assist Maneuvers at Earth and one at Venus the spacecraft will arrive in the Jovian system in July 2031. The tour in the Jovian system consists of  elliptical orbits around the planet and includes a number of moon flybys at Europa (2x), Ganymede (12x), and Callisto (21x). Callisto flybys are used to change the trajectory out of the plane of moon orbits  reaching latitudes of around 30 degrees ("high latitude phase").

The main target of the mission is Ganymede. JUICE will be the first spacecraft to orbit a moon of the outer planets starting in December 2034 and will analyze Ganymede from close distances.

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