Juice launch latest: Spacecraft is ‘alive’ – explorer sends back first signal on mission to Jupiter
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice for short) has begun its eight-year mission to assess the chance of life on the gas giant’s moons. A first attempt at launching was called off yesterday due to the risk of lightning.
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Moment Jupiter mission blasts into space
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Key points
Watch: Jupiter mission blasts off View post
Juice explorer separates from rocket – to cheers from the team View post
‘A heart-stopping moment’: Professor describes the launch View post
Everything going to plan so far – but stumbling block lie ahead | Tom Clarke View post
What will Juice do once it gets to Jupiter? View post
This is hugely exciting science – and well worth the wait | Analysis View post
Ganymede, Europa and Callisto: The three icy moons being explored View post
Live updates by Jess Sharp
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10h ago
10:00
Goodbye – and good luck to Juice
That brings to a close our live coverage of Juice’s launch.
Everything has gone to plan, and the head of the space agency behind the mission has said he is “relieved and happy” (see our post at 14:45).
Juice is on its eight-year, solar-powered journey to Jupiter where it will assess the chance of life on three of the planet’s icy moons.
“Rich data” will be sent back to Earth, should all go well, our science editor Tom Clarke has said – and the “wait will be worth it”.
Scroll back through our blog to catch up on all the developments as they happened.
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11h ago
09:45
Space agency chief ‘relieved and so happy’
The director general of the European Space Agency says he is “relieved and just so happy” as Juice officially makes its way to Jupiter.
Josef Aschbacher says: “I also feel very proud for Europe and everyone who has contributed.
He adds they are all asking themselves “is there a moon which could be habitable” uncovered on the mission.
He says he is in a “celebratory mood” after the solar panels began opening.
“There is still a long way to go” he adds, saying there is “still a lot of work to be done”.
But the “most critical” steps have been carried out successfully.
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11h ago
09:44
Mission to Jupiter officially begins… what happens now?
A sign of relief for European Space Agency scientists everywhere… Juice has completed all its launch marks and is officially on its way to uncover the secret worlds around Jupiter.
Following launch and separation from the Ariane 5 rocket, Juice sent a signal back to staff at the New Norcia ground station in Australia and deployed its huge solar arrays.
The completion of this critical operation marked the launch a success.
“ESA, with its international partners, is on its way to Jupiter,” says ESA director general Josef Aschbacher.
“Together, we will keep pushing the boundaries of science and exploration in order to answer humankind’s biggest questions.”
Over the next two and half weeks, Juice will deploy its various antennas and instrument booms that will study the environment of Jupiter and the subsurface of its three icy moons.
An eight-year cruise with four gravity-assist flybys at Earth and Venus will slingshot it towards the outer solar system.
The first flyby in April 2024 will mark a space exploration first: Juice will perform a lunar-Earth gravity-assist – a flyby of the moon followed by one of Earth.
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11h ago
09:32
Juice deploys solar panels successfully
Juice has started deploying its solar panels and is beginning to produce its own electricity.
The panels are some of the largest to have ever flown in an interplanetary mission.
“This is a very exciting moment for us,” a European Space Agency scientist says.
Power on the satellite has already started to increase, and the mission is ready to fly to Jupiter.
“Everything is going quite normally at this point,” he adds.
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11h ago
09:30
What do we know about the spacecraft and rocket?
Every space launch is something of an engineering miracle, but Ariane 5 is relatively standard so far as rockets go.
Described by the ESA as “the workhorse” of its access to space, Ariane 5 is not to the level of NASA’s record-breaking, multibillion-dollar Space Launch System powering the Artemis programme (a mission to return astronauts to the moon).
That said, Ariane 5 did carry NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into orbit in December 2021.
The ESA has launched more than 100 Ariane 5 rockets, and it will finally be retired next year. You can probably guess what its successor is called (Ariane 6).
Juice is pretty much top of the line so far as probes go – and it cost £1.4bn.
Much of that went towards making sure solar power can work in a section of space that enjoys only 3% of the illumination Earth gets from the sun.
Earth is about 93 million miles from the sun – Jupiter isn’t far off 500 million.
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11h ago
09:18
The launch in four photos…
Juice successfully took off at 1.14pm this afternoon, broadcast live by the European Space Agency.
Juice fuelled and ready to go
Juice fuelled and ready to go
3… 2… 1… Engines ignite
3… 2… 1… Engines ignite
We have lift-off
We have lift-off
Juice is airborne
Juice is airborne
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11h ago
09:16
‘A heart-stopping moment’: Professor describes seeing Juice’s successful launch
A professor who has been involved in Juice’s mission since 2008 has described the moment it successfully launched into space.
Professor Leigh N Fletcher, from the University of Leicester’s school of physics and astronomy, said it was a “heart-stopping moment”.
“My heart is still pounding, huge smiles around this room, and such an outburst of emotion after the disappointment of yesterday’s delay,” he said from the European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany.
“None of us had much sleep, but the wait continues, as we hope for successful separation and that crucial solar array deployment.
“But what an amazing start to the journey to Jupiter.”
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11h ago
09:06
‘The spacecraft is alive’ – Juice sends back signal
Teams on the ground have received a signal from Juice, indicating the spacecraft is now functioning as planned on its way to Jupiter.
“Theses are the words that every spacecraft operations manager wants to hear,” says Bruno Sousa, Juice’s deputy flight director.
“It’s flowing into our systems, everybody’s super excited… the spacecraft is alive.”
Teams will now start to check every subsystem on Juice, to make sure they are all healthy following the craft’s separation from its transport rocket Ariane 5.
The next milestone is for Juice to deploy its huge solar arrays.
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11h ago
09:03
Still no signal received from Juice
Juice has still not sent a signal back to European Space Agency staff back on Earth.
It is not a cause for concern just yet, scientists have said, but it could be if a signal is not received in the next half hour.
“We still don’t have acquisition of signal yet,” one ESA expert says, as he explains that the satellite needs to point in a certain direction to transmit one back.
Juice is going through a tumbling effect at the moment, he says, and it needs to ensure the fuel can flow throughout it before it tries to find its own “orientation space”.
“There is always a certain uncertainty about when we’ll actually receive the signal, but we have to be patient,” he adds.
“We have to keep looking, and I’m sure it will wake up soon.”
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12h ago
08:51
Everything going to plan so far – but stumbling blocks lie ahead
Juice’s launch is all going to plan so far, but there are still a “couple of key stumbling blocks to go”, our science and technology editor Tom Clarke says.
He is at Imperial College London for the launch, where scientists who designed a key instrument on the rocket have gathered to watch their equipment head into space.
Juice has successfully separated from Ariane 5 and is now going it alone, but another challenge is expected to come later today.
“It is going to unfurl its vast 85sqm of solar panels that are going to give it the energy it needs way out 600 million miles from Earth where the sun’s rays are a lot weaker,” Clarke says.
This is Europe’s first mission to the gas giant, and it is hoping to gather some potentially ground-breaking information.
Probes have gone to Jupiter before, Clarke says, “many of them “flyby missions, just taking a few photographs as they disappear around”.
“NASA has a Jupiter probe arriving at Jupiter quite shortly, slightly ahead of Juice, actually, but it has a slightly different objective.
“No one sent this many scientific instruments out to the Jupiter system, and there’s a huge array of science going into it.
“Rich data is going to come out of this for scientists to study for years to come.”
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12h ago
08:43
27 minutes and 56 seconds after lift-off – Juice goes it alone
Juice has separated from the rocket carrying it into space… and is now officially on its own on the eight-year mission to Jupiter.
The team watching on the ground in French Guiana erupt into applause and cheers as the separation is confirmed.
It is years and years of work for these teams – decades in some cases.
The emotion is clear on the team’s faces – they are joyous.
“This is the beginning of the journey for Juice,” Arianespace expert Raphael Chevrier says.
“This is absolutely incredible: Juice is on its way to Jupiter.”
Hugs and cheers for the team as the separation is confirmed
Hugs and cheers for the team as the separation is confirmed
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12h ago
08:31
Lift-off!
Watch the moment Europe’s first mission to Jupiter took off moments ago…
After the launch was postponed yesterday with less than ten minutes to go, the team worked through the night to get everything ready for today.
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12h ago
08:28
‘Very important step’ – Rocket’s engine ignites in space
Ariane 5’s engines have ignited in space as it continues to transport Juice further into the solar system.
This is a “very important step”, Arianespace expert Raphael Chevrier says.
“There are many factors that make it quite challenging to ignite the engine in space.”
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12h ago
08:20
Rocket ‘crosses limits of the atmosphere’
The boosters and the fairing on the Ariane 5 rocket have successfully separated.
“This is great,” a scientist on the European Space Agency’s live coverage says.
He explains that this means the rocket has “crossed the limits of the atmosphere” and Juice should separate from the rocket in around 24 minutes.
Raphael Chevrier adds that Ariane 5 is “accelerating a lot right now” and “all parameters are going smoothly” so far.
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12h ago
08:15
Juice blasts into space
And we have lift-off…
Europe’s first dedicated mission to Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system, has officially begun with Juice launching into space on an Ariane 5 rocket.
The spacecraft will now remain in the solar system for eight years.
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12h ago
08:14
Juice now drawing electricity from solar power
Juice is now drawing its electricity from solar power as it prepares for launch.
We are less than one minute away from blast off…
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12h ago
08:06
‘We are good to go’ – Launch set to go ahead
Juice’s launch will go ahead today, Arianespace has said.
“We are good to go,” an expert from the leading space launch company, which is responsible for the rocket carrying Juice, confirmed.
Checks have been carried out and “everything is good”, Raphael Chevrier added.
It was around this time yesterday that final weather checks deemed the risk of lightning was too high for the launch to take place.
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12h ago
08:04
Juice is an unmanned mission to Jupiter, but where will crews be sent next?
While the distance to the gas giant isn’t possible for human travel at the moment, crews will continue to fly to the International Space Station and whatever comes after, ESA astronaut Mattias Maurer says.
As part of the Artemis programme, which is being run by NASA and three other partner agencies, astronauts will eventually fly to the moon again as well.
However, Mr Maurer adds that the ESA needs to develop more training facilities to learn how to cope on the moon.
“We are currently in times of revolution in space,” he says.
“It is becoming more and more important to be on a level playing field.”
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13h ago
07:55
‘All is green up to now’ – final checks before launch
Teams have “worked all night” to get ready for today’s launch, and the weather conditions have been continuously monitored, the chief executive of Arianespace has said.
Speaking on the European Space Agency’s livestream, Stephane Israel said final checks are being carried out.
“One day is nothing compared to what is ahead of us,” he said.
“All is green up to now.”
The launch services company is responsible for Ariane 5 – the rocket that is carrying Juice into space.
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13h ago
07:48
Mission control roll-call complete
At the European Space Agency’s spaceport in French Guiana, the final preparations are underway for Juice’s blast off.
The final roll-call has taken place and mission control is ready for the launch.
Listen to the operations director making sure everyone is prepared below…
