Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer: live launch

Date: Fri, Apr 14, 2023 | 11:45 - 15:00 GMT | 13:45 - 17:00 CEST

Type: ESA TV Live

Format: 16:9

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer – or Juice – is set for launch atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 13:14 BST/14:14 CEST on Thursday 14 April.

Juice is humankind’s next bold mission to the outer Solar System. It will make detailed observations of gas giant Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. This ambitious mission will characterise these moons with a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments to discover more about these compelling destinations as potential habitats for past or present life.

Juice will monitor Jupiter’s complex magnetic, radiation and plasma environment in depth and its interplay with the moons, studying the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giant systems across the Universe. 

A joint ESA-Arianespace live transmission will cover operations from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, as well as mission control at ESA's European Space Operations Centre in Germany. The transmission will be available in English (original) on ESA Web TV and ESA's YouTube channel, and in French (translated) on ESA Web TV 2 and Arianespace's YouTube channel (link to come).

L-30: Live coverage begins with shots of launchpad
L-10: Weather status update
L-0: Lift off
L+28: Spacecraft separation
L+36: Earliest expected time to acquire Juice’s signal
L+100: Solar array deployment expected to be completed

Coverage will be followed by a post-launch press briefing.

Launch highlights will be posted as soon as possible on ESA TV ftp server:
tvdownload.esa.int
Login: esa
Password: ftp4esa

Animations depicting Juice’s launch and orbits are available here: https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2023/01/JUICE_animation_B-rolls

Footage and interviews from Juice’s development are available here:
https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2023/02/Juice_one_step_closer_to_launch
https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2022/10/Juice_mission_clips
https://www.esa.int/esatv/Videos/2022/04/Juice_spacecraft_fully_integrated_and_ready_for_next_testing

More information available at: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Juice

For media access to SST/SRT/RTMP cleanfeed, please contact d.valade@arianespace.com