Juice Satellite Set To Launch This Week To Investigate Jupiter's Large Ocean-bearing Moons

As scientists continue to explore outer space in search of signs of life, a new spacecraft will be investigating the Jovian system. Scientists are excited about the Juice satellite that will depart from Earth this week and make an arduous eight-year journey to gather data on Jupiter's three large ocean-bearing moons.

As MailOnline reported, the Juice satellite is one of the most daring missions of Europe to date and will make a series of close flybys to Jupiter, as well as its three icy moons Callisto, Ganymede, and Europa.

FRANCE-EU-AIRBUS-SPACE — A photograph shows the European spacecraft JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) in a clean room at the ESA (European Space Agency) headquarters in Toulouse, southwestern France, on 5 April, 2022. LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images

ESA's Juice Satellite Launch Date

The European Space Agency's (ESA) JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft is scheduled to launch on Thursday, April 13, from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.

The JUICE spacecraft, which contains the most powerful payload ever flown to the outer solar system, will be launched on an Ariane 5 rocket that is similar to the one that propelled the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit in December 2021. The JUICE satellite has been cocooned inside the rocket and is ready for launch.

According to ESA, the launch of the Juice satellite on Thursday will mark the last time the spacecraft will be seen on Earth before it embarks on its journey to Jupiter.

The spacecraft will travel 4.1 billion miles (6.6 billion km) to reach the Jovian system, which will take eight-and-a-half years, and is scheduled to arrive in July 2031. Members of the public can watch the launch through ESA Web TV or the space agency's YouTube channel starting at 12:45 BST.

Juice Satellite's Mission

The Juice satellite will conduct 35 flybys of Jupiter's three largest moons, namely Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede, before settling into a permanent orbit around Ganymede in 2034, Space.com reported.

Its primary goal is to gather data about these moons, specifically confirming the presence of liquid water below their surfaces. ESA noted that the Juice satellite will not have a lander, so it will not touch down on any of its targets.

Between 2031 and 2034, JUICE will fly by Europa twice, Callisto 21 times, and Ganymede 12 times. The spacecraft will skim as low as 248 miles (400 kilometers) above Europa's surface. The mission will end in 2035 when JUICE crashes into Ganymede's surface.

JUICE's project scientist, Olivier Witasse, is excited about the mission's potential findings, which could confirm the existence of vast oceans of liquid water on these moons. This discovery would be crucial in determining whether or not these moons could support life.

Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, is believed to be the most likely to host extraterrestrial life. However, due to the harsh environment around it, the Juice satellite will only be able to observe it briefly. The environment is so harsh that NASA says it could destroy a spacecraft in just a couple of months.

Reaching Jupiter itself is a difficult task, and engineers and mission controllers only have a brief launch window to reach it. Juice satellite will use a gravitational assist from Venus and Earth to slingshot towards Jupiter. However, for the mission, scientists are more interested in exploring Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, which is believed to have a salty ocean beneath its icy shell.