ESA · orbiter active
JUICE
ESA's JUICE is on its way to Jupiter to study the icy moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, and will finally orbit Ganymede.
- Launch
- 14 April 2023
- Distance from Earth today
- 35.64 million km0.238 AU · light: 1 min 59 s
- Distance from the Sun today
- 127.8 million km0.854 AU
Live distance from Earth and chart →
Trajectory
Trajectory: JPL Horizons vectors (spacecraft -28) every 2 days, projected onto the ecliptic; compressed distance scale.
About the mission
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer is investigating whether the large moons of Jupiter could hide habitable oceans beneath their crusts. Instead of a direct route it uses a series of gravity assists, including the first combined Moon and Earth flyby in August 2024, a Venus pass in 2025 and Earth again in 2026. It is due at Jupiter in July 2031, will fly past Europa, Ganymede and Callisto many times, and in December 2034 should become the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than our own.