5 Apr 2023

Between 1 April and 4 April, Juice was transferred to the final assembly building, mounted onto the Ariane 5 rocket that will carry it into space, then encapsulated inside the rocket. These photos capture the key milestones in this process.

Juice is being prepared to launch from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 13 April 2023. After an eight-year journey to Jupiter, the mission will make detailed observations of the gas giant and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of instruments. The mission will characterise these moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats, explore Jupiter’s complex environment in depth, and study the wider Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants across the Universe.

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Juice meets Ariane 5