Jupiter Juice launch – live: ESA spacecraft on way to find habitable moons in our solar system
The European Space Agency is headed to Jupiter – and hoping to find aliens.
The ESA is launching a new mission, from its spaceport in French Guiana, facing a second attempt to light the rocket carrying it after the first was cancelled because of lightning.
The mission, named Juice or Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, will make observations both of the planet itself as well as its icy moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
It will do so using an array of equipment that researchers hope could allow for an unprecedentedly good view of the worlds.
That, in turn, could give insight into whether there is life elsewhere in our solar system. Those moons are thought to be one of the prime candidates for alien life – and we might finally get a good enough look to know if they are inhabited.
The mission will depart at 1.14pm UK time on Friday, and is available to watch online on ESA’s YouTube channel. There will be full coverage on all the latest updates below.
Key Points
ESA successfully launches spacecraft to Jupiter
Watch launch live with European Space Agency
Everything you need to know about ‘Juice’ launch to Jupiter
Track spacecraft’s progress at the ‘Juice Bar'
14:57 , Andrew Griffin
ESA has launched a Twitter feed that will track the spacecraft’s progress via a ‘Juice Bar’ that will fill as it gets closer to Jupiter.
The @ESAJuiceBar is open. https://t.co/4AyxdWVS9o
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) April 14, 2023
Don’t stay overly tuned to it: the journey will take eight years, so updates will come less than once a month.
Solar panels deployed
14:34 , Andrew Griffin
“Europe has a mission. We are on our way to Jupiter.”
Both solar arrays have been fully deployed and the spacecraft is now doing its job. The satellite is now fully ready to float through space for eight years, and then get on with examining Jupiter.
Juice headed out on complicated journey
14:22 , Andrew Griffin
Here’s the full timeline of Juice’s journey, which shows just how complicated it is. It also shows how weird it is: even in six years, Juice will still be flying around Earth, despite being just a couple of years from its eventual destination.
Spacecraft hurrying through its schedule
14:15 , Andrew Griffin
After causing some brief anxiety for its controllers, Juice is now tearing through its schedule. It’s on track to deploy its solar array in the next 20 minutes or so.
At that point, this part of the journey will be over, really. Juice will then be making its (sometimes complicated) journey through the solar system, on its way to Jupiter, over a period of eight years or so.
Signal finally acquired
14:06 , Andrew Griffin
After a tense ten minutes or so, Juice has finally got in contact with home: ESA has “acquisition of signal” and data is finally coming back from its journey to space.
No signal acquired yet
13:58 , Andrew Griffin
It’s been a few minutes and Juice is still yet to communicate with its controllers. It would be expected by now, but not hearing is also normal. The spacecraft is tumbling around in space and may need to stabilise before it can communicate with the ground.
There’s still half an hour before engineers would get nervous, ESA says. But it is definitely tense.
Tense wait as controllers wait for signal
13:53 , Andrew Griffin
Engineers are waiting for a signal from the spacecraft, which will confirm that Juice is able to talk to its controllers back at home. It’s a tense moment as people watch the graph that will jump up when signal is acquired.
First leg of Juice’s journey complete
13:46 , Andrew Griffin
Just under half an hour after it set off, Juice has separated from all parts of the rocket and the first leg of the process is done. It’s now firmly on its way.
There is celebrating, smiles and joy at the ESA spaceport in French Guiana, where the large team is celebrating their success.
The next step is to confirm “acquisition of signal” from the spacecraft, when engineers will ensure that the spacecraft is able to communicate with its controllers.
ESA successfully launches Juice, its moon-scouring mission
13:32 , Andrew Griffin
Spacecraft disappears from visibility
13:28 , Andrew Griffin
The spacecraft is currently flying between two ground stations, meaning that it’s out of contact. That’s normal – there are gaps in the stations that mean you can’t always track it – but it is no doubt quite stressful for the engineers who are watching it.
Boosters separated and faring dropped
13:19 , Andrew Griffin
The boosters that carried the rocket up into space have finished doing so, and have dropped off. And the faring that protected Juice itself on its way through the atmosphere is no longer needed, and has dropped off.
The rocket and the spacecraft will continue to fly again for another 20 minutes, when they will detach.
Rocket has launched
13:18 , Andrew Griffin
The Ariane 5 rocket has taken off, and Juice is on its way to Jupiter.
Everything seems to be “nominal”, and the launch is all going to plan.
One minute to go
13:14 , Andrew Griffin
The rocket is about to set off.
‘Synchronised sequence’ starts
13:08 , Andrew Griffin
The rocket is now definitely going to launch: the “synchronised sequence” has started, which means that the rocket can’t stop now. The Ariane 5 rocket is getting its final preparations and will set off in about six minutes.
‘All is green'
13:06 , Andrew Griffin
We’ve now passed the moment when the mission got cancelled yesterday. And everything on the board that monitors any problems is green, meaning that there are no issues.
ESA broadcast schedule gives deja vu
12:56 , Andrew Griffin
(If you were watching live yesterday and are doing the same today, you might feel a little like you’ve seen it all before. And that’s because you will have done: the videos and schedule that ESA is showing today appears to be the same it was before the launch yesterday...)
ESA is “go” for launch
12:53 , Andrew Griffin
The team has given its go ahead for launch, with all the teams indicating that they are ready. There’s just over 20 minutes to go.
The “go” doesn’t mean that the launch will necessarily go today; the same thing happened yesterday. But the weather got in the way, and it had to be cancelled.
(That was about 10 minutes before the launch was scheduled, ie roughly the equivalent of 12 minutes from now.)
ESA’s live coverage begins as countdown continues
12:38 , Andrew Griffin
The European Space Agency is hosting live coverage of the preparations for the launch, with about 40 minutes left to go. You can watch below.
Eveyrthing you need to know about today’s launch
11:15 , Andrew Griffin
The mission stars today at 1.14pm UK time (hopefully). It will end in 2035, when the spacecraft is crashed into Ganymede and destroyed.
Friday brings a second attempt
09:02 , Andrew Griffin
Friday brings with it a second attempt at the launch, and engineers will be hoping that the weather is more co-operative. But they might not know until just before: Thursday’s launch was called off with ten minutes to go.
The launch will be at 1.14pm, UK time. That’s just a minute earlier than was scheduled for Thursday.
‘Not what we hoped for,’ says ESA head
Thursday 13 April 2023 13:44 , Andrew Griffin
Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, tweeted: “Not what we hoped for, but this is part of the game.
“Hopefully tomorrow we have clearer skies.”
Launch postponed for same time on Friday
Thursday 13 April 2023 13:27 , Andrew Griffin
Almost as quickly as the launch was postponed, it got a new date. Here’s our story on both the cancellation and then second attempt.
JUICE launch cancelled for today
Thursday 13 April 2023 13:08 , Andrew Griffin
The JUICE launch will not go ahead today. The risk of lightning meant that engineers were afraid about the safety of the rocket.
Instead, it will be pushed back until Friday. The launch is scheduled for one minute earlier than it was today: 9.14pm eastern time, or 1.14pm in the UK.
The announcement came with 10 minutes to go. The circumstances of liftoff meant that ESA had no time for delay – there was only a one minute window for the launch.
10 minute warning
Thursday 13 April 2023 13:05 , Andrew Griffin
There’s 10 minutes until JUICE is scheduled to start its long journey from French Guiana.
Launch imminent – but findings a long way off
Thursday 13 April 2023 12:59 , Andrew Griffin
JUICE is about to set off, in about 20 minutes. You’ll be able to follow the launch live here and on YouTube.
But it will be a long time before we actually get any information back. The spacecraft won’t arrive at Jupiter until 2031, and we will start receiving information the following year. The mission is scheduled to last for four years.
Mission is GO for launch
Thursday 13 April 2023 12:53 , Andrew Griffin
Engineers have checked in with all the teams responsible for the different parts of the launch, and they have all given the “go” ahead.
Now the spacecraft is just waiting on its launchpad – in French Guiana – which is scheduled for just over 20 minutes from now
Schedule for JUICE launch
Thursday 13 April 2023 12:48 , Andrew Griffin
Here, via the European Space Agency, is the schedule for today’s launch. (This is in Central European Time, so subtract an hour if you’re following from the UK.)
14:15 Juice launch on Ariane 514:42 Separation of Juice from Ariane 5 upper stage14:51 Earliest expected time to acquire Juice’s signal15:55 Solar array deployment expected to be completed
Tim Peake says mission will help ‘unlock the hidden mysteries of the universe'
Thursday 13 April 2023 11:11 , Andrew Griffin
Tim Peake, the British astronaut, says that he believes alien life is out there – and that this will help find it.
“This is such an exciting mission, with the power to inspire the next generation of scientists and explorers. What could be more inspirational than the search for extra-terrestrial life?
“Personally, I’m convinced that there is life out there, somewhere. We have already identified 50 billion stars likely to have planets with a habitable zone in this galaxy alone. If you consider that there could be as many as 200 trillion galaxies in the observable universe, the chance of Earth being the only planet supporting life is extremely slim in my view.
“The Juice launch is an important step in trying to unlock the hidden mysteries of the universe.”
Hello and welcome...
Thursday 13 April 2023 10:54 , Andrew Griffin
... to the Independent’s live coverage of the launch of the European Space Agency’s Juice mission.
