After this mission, three Ariane 5 launches remain, including the JUICE mission, before Ariane 6 takes up the baton, supporting Europe’s institutional missions and meeting the growing needs of the commercial market.
NSF threads:ESA - JUICEhttps://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=29300.0ESA - L class Cosmic Vision 2015 - 2025 candidateshttps://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=23409.0
That's what you call power! ⚡️10 panels, 26 980 cells, and a surface area of over 85 sqm: the solar arrays for @ESA_JUICE are the largest ever built for an interplanetary mission. They’ve just been put to the test for the last time. 👇
20 January 2023SpaceAirbus finalises JUICE ready for its mission to JupiterSatellite ready to leave Europe before its launch in AprilGalileo tribute plaque unveiled in Airbus’ cleanroom and mounted on the spacecraftESA’s mission will study Jupiter’s three largest icy moons and the Jovian system’s magnetic fieldsToulouse, 20 January 2023 - The Airbus-built JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission) spacecraft will shortly leave Toulouse, France, for Kourou, French Guiana, for lift-off on an Ariane 5 in April 2023. Shipment is expected in early February.The spacecraft has been at Airbus in Toulouse since August 2021 for final assembly and test. This included integration of the final instrument units and the largest solar arrays ever to fly on a planetary exploration mission, needed to power the mission at 740 million kilometres from the Sun.“With JUICE's departure for the launch site fast approaching, we look back at its long Earthly journey through various Airbus sites in Europe towards final integration and involving close to 500 Airbus employees who prepared the spacecraft for its eight-year cruise,” said Cyril Cavel, JUICE Project Manager at Airbus Defence and Space.“It has been an incredible adventure, along with more than 80 companies across Europe, to bring ESA’s vision to life and ultimately study Jupiter and its icy moons in fine detail.”Today a commemorative plaque was unveiled during a press event in Toulouse as a tribute to Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. The plaque has been mounted on the spacecraft to honour Galileo who was the first to view Jupiter and its largest moons through a telescope in 1610.On its more than 2 billion-kilometre long journey, the 6.2 ton JUICE spacecraft will collect data on the icy moons to try to understand whether there is any possibility that these moons could host microbial life. Carrying 10 state-of-the-art scientific instruments, including cameras, spectrometers, an ice-penetrating radar, an altimeter, a radio-science experiment, and sensors, the JUICE spacecraft will complete a unique tour of the Jupiter system that will include in-depth studies of three potentially ocean-bearing moons: Ganymede, Europa and Callisto.During its four year-long mission, JUICE will spend nine months orbiting the icy moon Ganymede analysing its nature and evolution, characterising its subsurface ocean, and investigating its potential habitability.After being selected by ESA as prime contractor in 2015 Airbus has led a pan European industrial consortium to design and build this unique spacecraft.
https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-01-airbus-finalises-juice-ready-for-its-mission-to-jupiter
Will JUICE be the next orbital launch from French Guiana?
Quote from: zubenelgenubi on 01/30/2023 08:08 pmWill JUICE be the next orbital launch from French Guiana?Yes
Quote from: TheKutKu on 01/30/2023 08:42 pmQuote from: zubenelgenubi on 01/30/2023 08:08 pmWill JUICE be the next orbital launch from French Guiana?YesIt will be the next Ariane, yes. But it's not sure it will be if you speak of "next orbital launch from French Guiana" : there could still be another Vega/Vega-C in the meantime.
✅ Ready for its mission! The @esa #JUICE spacecraft 🛰 is now good to go 👍 and will leave Airbus's cleanrooms, heading to its launch site & an almost 8-year journey to Jupiter 🚀Stay tuned and watch this space...
#JUICE’s final take-off 🛫 before lift-off! 🚀Special delivery later today:📍 Destination: European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana🔜 Next steps: last preparations before launch on an Ariane 5 in April 2023🔗 Read more: https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/news/2023-02-juices-final-take-off-before-lift-off
[1/2] What better way to start the day, than with a little #JUICE? 😏Yesterday, the JUICE payload arrived in French Guiana and went straight away to @EuropeSpacePort where it will meet our #Ariane5. 🚀
[2/2] Flight #VA260, the first step towards Jupiter and its Icy Moons, will be our 3⃣0⃣th mission dedicated to science and exploration. #DestinationSpace
