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Abstract

JUICE - JUpiter ICy moons Explorer -, the first large mission in the ESA Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 programme, is due to launch in April 2023. After arrival at Jupiter in July 2031, it will spend at least three and a half years making detailed observations of Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. The focus of JUICE is to characterise the conditions that might have led to the emergence of habitable environments around gas giants, with special emphasis on the icy worlds Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, likely hosting internal oceans. Ganymede is identified as a high-priority target because it provides a unique laboratory for analyzing the nature, evolution and habitability of icy worlds, including the characteristics of subsurface oceans, and its unique magnetosphere interaction with the Jovian magnetodisc. JUICE will also perform a multidisciplinary investigation of the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giants. The Jovian atmosphere will be studied from the cloud top to the thermosphere. Coupling processes within the Jupiter’s magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere will be carried out as well as investigations of the properties of the magnetodisc. JUICE will study the moons’ interactions with the magnetosphere, gravitational coupling and long-term tidal evolution of the Galilean satellites. The payload consists of 10 state-of-the-art instruments plus one experiment using the spacecraft telecommunication system with ground-based instruments. The status of the project, the science objectives and the future plans are presented.