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Watch the Launch

Additional Media

[POSTPONED] Flight VA260 – Destination Jupiter | JUICE | Ariane 5 Launch I Arianespace

On April 13, 2023 at 09:15 a.m. local time (12:15 p.m. UTC), Arianespace’s next Ariane 5 mission will lift off from Europe’s Spaceport, French Guiana, with the JUICE space probe. JUICE will carry th...

Juice

ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, will make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments. The mission will characterise these moons as both planetary ...

JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer)

Circle Image

Overview

Destination: Heliocentric N/A
Mission: Planetary Science

Heliocentric N/A Ariane Launch Area 3 Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

JUICE is an ESA mission to study some of the Jupiter's moons: Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Updates

Nosu • April 14, 2023, 1:08 p.m.

Successful launch of JUICE on its journey to the Jovian system.


Nosu • April 14, 2023, 12:14 p.m.

Liftoff


LL2 • April 14, 2023, 11:25 a.m.

Livestream has started


Nosu • April 13, 2023, 12:51 p.m.

Setting back to GO


Nosu • April 13, 2023, 12:09 p.m.

Scrub due to weather. Setting TBC 24 hours later, pending official confirmation.


Ariane 5 ECA+

Family:
Configuration: ECA+

Ariane 5 ECA+ is a variant of the Ariane 5 heavy-lift vehicle, with a taller ECA-D upper stage.

Specifications
  • Max Stage
    2
  • Length
    57.7 m
  • Diameter
    5.4 m
  • Fairing Diameter
    5.4 m
  • Launch Mass
    780.0 T
  • Thrust
    11400.0 kN
Family
  • Name
    Ariane 5 ECA+
  • Family
  • Variant
    ECA+
  • Alias
  • Full Name
    Ariane 5 ECA+
Payload Capacity
  • Launch Cost
  • Low Earth Orbit
  • Geostationary Transfer Orbit
    10200.0 kg
  • Direct Geostationary
  • Sun-Synchronous Capacity

ArianeGroup

ArianeGroup

(AG)

CEO: Christophe Bruneau Founded: 2015 Successes: 0 Failures: 0 Pending: 0

Agency Type:

ArianeGroup (formerly Airbus Safran Launchers) is an aerospace company based in France. A joint venture between Airbus and Safran, the company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Issy-les-Moulineaux. It consists of three core arms: aerospace, defence and security.

INFO WIKI
ESA

Five things Juice has revealed about Comet 3I/ATLAS

‘Extreme but not exotic,’ – a glimpse at Comet 3I/ATLAS through the eyes of the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice).

ESA

Five things Juice has revealed about Comet 3I/ATLAS already

‘Extreme but not exotic,’ – a glimpse at Comet 3I/ATLAS through the eyes of the European Space Agency’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice).

ESA

A rare encounter: How Juice came to observe 3I/ATLAS

No matter how much planning goes into space missions, one must always expect the unexpected. But luck favours the prepared. In July 2025, an unexpected visitor entered our Solar System, interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons…

ESA

First glimpse of comet 3I/ATLAS from Juice science camera

From the ESA Blogs.

ESA

Journey of Juice link

The journey of Juice

Guiana Space Centre, French Guiana

Ariane Launch Area 3


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