The European Space Agency (ESA) has tapped Airbus Defense and Space in France in pursuing the JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) mission to Jupiter and its moons. The contract, which is worth approximately $380 million, was approved by the Industrial Policy Committee on Thursday, July 16.
The contractor will be responsible for the design, testing, integration, development, launch campaign and in-space commissioning of the spacecraft. Further details of the contract are still pending but the experts involved in this mission are expected to start by the end of July.
JUICE was chosen to be the pioneer large-scale mission under the ESA's Cosmic Vision 2015-25 program. The target launch of the spacecraft is in 2022 and the estimated arrival in the Jovian system is 2030.
The mission is said to explore the largest planet in the solar system, particularly its turbulent atmosphere, massive magnetic atmosphere and dark rings.
JUICE will also look into the planet's icy moons, namely Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, which are all believed to contain oceans underneath their icy surfaces, thereby giving valuable information regarding the possible existence of environments that are conducive to life.
The trajectory of the spacecraft will be altered using gravity assist with Callisto and Ganymede. Callisto gravity assists will also serve as a valuable tool in observing and gathering data about the polar regions of Jupiter. Distinct observations of Callisto and its surrounding regions from afar are said to be obtained through the regular flybys set to pass by the said moon.
The mission will reportedly reach its pinnacle after eight months of revolving around Ganymede, which, if successful, will hold the record for the first spacecraft to orbit an icy moon. The said period will be used to explore the moon thoroughly and come up with detailed data including its interaction with the surroundings.
JUICE boasts usage of 10 technologically advanced devices to observe the charged particles and magnetosphere of the Jovian system. The process of study will also involve the analysis of combined ground and telecommunication data from the spacecraft.
The 10 highly sophisticated equipment range from cameras that can capture photos of the surface, including geysers that may expel water from the planet to the vast space; to spectrometers that can identify the composition of the surface; to a radar that can permeate through ice and determine the depth of the planet's oceans; to sensors that can identify the amount of radiation that the moons absorb when they orbit around the planet.
The spacecraft will be built in Toulouse, France. Some ESA member-states, including the United States and Japan, will extend support for the first mission to Jupiter.
