Juice's journey to Jupiter

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) is on an eight-year cruise to Jupiter that started in April 2023.

On its journey Juice will make a series of flybys of Earth, the Earth-Moon system and Venus to set it on course for its July 2031 rendezvous in the Jovian system.

Juice will make three Earth flybys during its cruise: one of the Earth-Moon system in August 2024, one of Earth in September 2026, and another of Earth in January 2029.

Juice will reach Jupiter in July 2031, but will already begin making scientific observations six months before entering orbit around Jupiter. Juice will go on to spend many months orbiting Jupiter, making 35 flybys of icy moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and finally conducting an orbital tour of Ganymede.

Watch the full sequence of Juice’s journey to, and tour of, Jupiter and its icy moons

Explore the spacecraft's journey to Jupiter yourself: Where is Juice now?

This infographic was first published in ESA Highlights 2023. For a transparent version, choose the PNG file from the download dropdown list.

Note: as of February 2024, Jupiter has 95 officially recognised moons. This number continues to evolve as our detection methods improve.

Juice will make detailed observations of Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of instruments. The mission will characterise these moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats, explore Jupiter’s complex environment in depth, and study the wider Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants across the Universe.