ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, is set to embark on an eight-year cruise to Jupiter starting April 2023. The mission will investigate the emergence of habitable worlds around gas giants and the Jupiter system as an archetype for the numerous giant planets now known to orbit other stars.
Juice will start its science mission about six months prior to entering orbit around Jupiter in 2031, making observations as it approaches its destination. Once in the Jovian system and in orbit around Jupiter, a series of gravity-assist flybys of Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede – also the largest moon in the Solar System – will help Juice reduce its orbital energy as needed.
Watch the full sequence of Juice’s journey to, and tour of, Jupiter and its icy moons.