ESA announces launch window for 2023 JUICE mission for exploring Jupiter's icy Moons

The European Space Agency (ESA) has finalised the timeline for launching its JUICE mission to Jupiter in 2023. Engineers will be targeting a launch window between April 5 to 25 in an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Once in space, the JUICE spacecraft will begin its eight-year-long journey before entering the Jupiter system in 2031. 

The JUICE mission

This new venture is to explore three of Jupiter's largest moons- Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. Since scientists are confident that some of these moons have vast oceans beneath their icy surface, the spacecraft will be used to investigate the scope of habitability. Built to last till 2035, the spacecraft will examine the atmosphere, surface, subsurface, interior and internal oceans of these moons by perceiving them as possible habitats. 

JUICE mission profile

When the spacecraft is pushed into space, scientists will execute a series of gravity assist flybys of Earth, the Earth-Moon system and Venus to set the spacecraft on course for its journey. ESA reveals that three flybys have been scheduled at different time windows- Earth-Moon (August 2024), Venus (August 2025), and again Earth (September 2026, January 2029). These flybys are extremely useful as they would help save loads of propellant during the spacecraft’s journey.

Cut to 2031, the JUICE spacecraft will begin its operations about six months before entering Jupiter’s orbit. Scientists will execute another slingshot of the spacecraft using gravity assist from Ganymede to insert JUICE into the gas giant’s orbit. Once in orbit, the spacecraft will then make detailed observations of the Moons for the next four years. It is worth noting that out of the three Moons, Europa will hog the most spotlight because of its potential ocean which has the scientists pretty excited.

After several flybys of Europa and Callisto, the spacecraft will finally reach its final destination- Ganymede. Known for its own magnetic field, this Moon will be observed for eight months. According to ESA, the spacecraft’s orbit around Ganymede will eventually decay as the propellant tank starts getting emptied. Eventually, the spacecraft will make a grazing impact on the Moon around 2035 which has been shown in the animation above. 

Image: Twitter/@esascience