Satellite

ESA is overseeing development of the JUICE spacecraft, which relies on proven and robust design strategies. It is being built by Airbus Defence & Space.

JUICE will be built to withstand the radiation environment around Jupiter. It will consist of a solar-powered orbiter with three instrument packages designed to achieve the mission’s science goals: remote sensing, in-situ measurements of fields and particles, and geophysical measurements.

JUICE satellite – Credits: ESA/ATG Medialab (spacecraft); NASA/ESA/J. (Jupiter)

Mass breakdown:

• Mass on launch (May 2022): 5,682 kg
• Launch vehicle adapter, 82 kg
• Flight system: 2,515 kg
• Propellant: 3,085 kg

Subsystems:

Telecommunications

• 2.5-m high-gain antenna (HGA)
• X band for telecommands, X and K, bands for telemetry

Attitude control

• Three-axis stabilized with thrusters and reaction wheels

Power

• 90-sq.m solar array
• Lithium ion battery for peak and eclipse power management

Propulsion

• Bi-propellant
• 400-N main engine, 8 22-N nozzles and 12 10-N nozzles

The model payload is composed of 10 instruments, with a total mass of 276 kg (see Instruments section for details of instruments to which France is contributing)

• JANUS narrow-angle visible camera
• MAJIS (Moons and Jupiter Imaging Spectrometer) visible and IR imaging spectrometer (French prime contractor)
• UVS (UV imaging Spectrograph) (French contribution)
• SWI (Sub-millimetre Wave Instrument) (French contribution)
• GALA (GAnymede Laser Altimeter)
• RIME (Radar for Icy Moons Exploration) ice-penetrating radar (French contribution)
• J-MAG magnetometers
• PEP (Particle Environment Package) particle and plasma instrument - Ion-neutral mass spectrometer (French contribution)
• RPWI (Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation) (French contribution)
• 3GM (Gravity & Geophysics of Jupiter and Galilean Moons) radio science instrument