Penultimate Ariane 5 Launches ESA’s Jupiter Moon Probe

After a 24-hr. weather delay, an Ariane 5 heavy rocket lifting off from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on April 14 launched the European Space Agency’s probe to Jupiter’s icy moons into an escape orbit.

Separation took place as planned, and the European Space Agency (ESA) received its first signals from the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft shortly after taking command. The schedule called for solar-array unfolding 90 min. after launch. Over the course of 17 days the probe’s antennas, sensors and magnetometer boom will be deployed.

JUICE will address two themes of ESA’s 2015-2025 Cosmic Vision program: What are the conditions for planet formation and the emergence of life? And how does the Solar System work?

Concerning the first question, JUICE will endeavor to determine whether three of Jupiter’s icy moons—Callisto, Europa and Ganymede—may provide a suitable environment for life to develop.

As for the second question, studying Ganymede—the only moon in the Solar System with an internal magnetic field—may shed light on the magnetic interaction between the Sun and the Earth.

Among the 10 instruments on board, the Moons And Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer (MAJIS) will characterize the surface of Jupiter’s moons using an infrared sensor. The sub-millimeter wave instrument (SWI) heterodyne radiotelescope will analyze the atmosphere. The Ganymede laser altimeter (GALA) will study that moons’ morphology and topography.

The €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion) mission involves 83 companies, according to ESA.

Meanwhile, in June, the 117th and last Ariane 5 is slated to orbit Syracuse 4B, a geostationary telecommunications satellite for the French defense ministry.

April 14’s successful launch has a symbolic impact for Europe’s space industry, helping it restore its image. The launch sector is bracing for a period where no or very few European space transportation vehicles will be available, thus harming the EU’s autonomy in space. The Vega C has yet to return to flight after a failure last December. And the Ariane 6’s development delays mean limited capacity while the program is ramping up, with a first launch planned for late this year at the earliest.