JUICE

JUICE
Airbus Defence & Space in France has been selected as the prime industrial contractor for ESA’s Juice mission to Jupiter and its icy moons.

The agency’s Industrial Policy Committee approved the award of the €350.8 million contract. Pending the negotiation of contractual details, this should allow work to start by the end of this month.

The contract covers the industrial activities for the design, development, integration, test, launch campaign, and in-space commissioning of the spacecraft. The Ariane 5 launch is not included and will be procured later from Arianespace.

The spacecraft will be assembled in Toulouse, France, and many other ESA Member States will also be involved in Europe’s first mission to the largest planet in the Solar System. The spacecraft should be launched in 2022 and arrive in the Jovian system in 2030.

For three and a half years, Juice will sweep around the giant planet, exploring its turbulent atmosphere, enormous magnetosphere, and tenuous set of dark rings, as well as studying the icy moons Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. All three of these planet-sized satellites are thought to have oceans of liquid water beneath their icy crusts and should provide key clues on the potential for such icy moons to harbor habitable environments.

Source & further reading:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Preparing_to_build_ESA_s_Jupiter_mission

Image credit: ESA/AOES

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