spacetoday.net: ESA confirms selection of Jupiter mission

ESA confirms selection of Jupiter mission

Posted: Thu, May 3, 2012, 7:42 AM ET (1142 GMT)
ESA Juice mission illustration

The European Space Agency (ESA) announced Wednesday that it has chosen a mission to several of Jupiter's largest moons as its next large mission, confirming a choice made last month by an agency panel. The JUpiter ICy moon Explorer, or Juice, is planned for launch in 2022 and arrive at Jupiter in 2030. The spacecraft would fly by the Galilean moons of Callisto and Europa before entering orbit around Ganymede, the solar system's largest moon. The mission's total cost is estimated to be nearly €1.1 billion (US$1.45 billion). An ESA science panel picked Juice over two other missions as its preferred choice for the agency's Cosmic Vision program of large science missions last month.