JUICE is on its way to reveal Jupiter’s mysteries with Italy as a participant.

The JUICE mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA), is set to explore Jupiter and its moons. After a 24-hour delay due to bad weather, the JUICE (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) spacecraft was launched from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The Italian Space Agency, along with the national scientific community and industry, played a significant role in making the mission a reality. The probe will study Jupiter’s atmosphere and magnetosphere, as well as the potential habitability of its moons – Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto – which may contain large amounts of water beneath their icy surfaces. The mission will also investigate planet formation and how the Solar System works. The JUICE science payload includes ten state-of-the-art instruments, with Italy contributing to three of them: the Radar Sounder for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME), the JANUS camera system, and the 3GM radio science package. The probe will reach Jupiter in approximately eight years. The Italian Space Agency’s president, Giorgio Saccoccia, expressed pride in the country’s role in the mission and highlighted the spirit of sharing in the space sector. The National Institute of Astrophysics’ president, Marco Tavani, called it a historic day for Europe and Italy and praised INAF’s contribution to the mission. Thales Alenia Space developed the RIME sounder, while Leonardo provided the hyperspectral optical head and built JUICE’s solar panels.