Earlier today, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission successfully launched from French Guiana. It is the start of a long trip to the Jovian planet and its moons. The spacecraft will not reach Jupiter until July 2031. You can watch of video of the launch here. ESA has numerous other videos on the mission here.
ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher stated:
ESA, with its international partners, is on its way to Jupiter…Juice’s spectacular launch carries with it the vision and ambition of those who conceived the mission decades ago, the skill and passion of everyone who has built this incredible machine, the drive of our flight operations team, and the curiosity of the global science community. Together, we will keep pushing the boundaries of science and exploration in order to answer humankind’s biggest questions.
It is another great step forward in the exploration of our home solar system as we scan the skies for other more distant systems.
Our Awesome Universe 