ESA’s JUICE mission to Jupiter lifts off on April 13: Here is when and when to watch

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency is set to launch on Thursday, April 13. The mission will launch from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The JUICE spacecraft will set off on an eight-year-long voyage and it will reach Jupiter in 2031. The objective of the mission is to explore the possibilities of life in space and to study three of Jupiter's Galilean moons.

It will explore Jupiter’s complex environment and study the Jupiter system. JUICE will also observe Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede in a nine-month mission finale.

This will be the first time a European spacecraft has ever visited Jupiter, and it will also be the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than that of the Earth.

The JUICE spacecraft will lift off at 12:15 PM GMT on April 13 (5:45 PM IST) on top of Europe's most powerful rocket, the Ariane-5. The spacecraft will separate from the rocket after about 30 minutes to travel to deep space.

The European Space Agency will start the live broadcast at 5:15 PM IST (11:45 AM GMT) on its website. You can watch the launch online on Space.com, as well as on ESA’s webTV or YouTube Channel.

The JUICE mission will have only one second to get off the ground and if the spacecraft fails to launch in April, the next available slot will open four months later, in August.

The European Space Agency earlier conducted a rehearsal ahead of the launch where a live re-enactment of the countdown and launch readiness was tested. All systems including the connection to JUICE on the launch pad, establishment of ground station links, and tests of all mission control software and systems were also done as per ESA’s blog.

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The billion-dollar JUICE Explorer will be an exciting mission as it will make 67 orbits of Jupiter, observe Jupiter’s moon Europa, where astrobiologists think microbial life may exist, perform 21 flybys Callisto, and spend 9 months in the orbit around the largest moon of Jupiter Ganymede.

It will also monitor Jupiter’s complex magnetic, radiation, and plasma environment.