Juice mission completes Venus flyby
On August 31, 2025, ESA’s JUICE spacecraft zipped past Venus. It was performing a gravity assist, using the planet’s pull to help it pick up the speed required to eventually soar to Jupiter. It’s set to reach the gas giant and start exploring its icy moons in 2031.
The flyby of Venus comes after JUICE performed the first ever gravity assist using both Earth and the moon on August 19 and 20, 2024. The craft encountered the moon first and then Earth 36 hours later in a single flyby maneuver, marking JUICE’s first gravity assist following its launch in 2023.
The flyby of the moon and Earth was technically a braking maneuver. It served to line JUICE up for the Venus flyby, where the successful gravity assist sped up the spacecraft, or gave it the juice, if you will. But much more speed is required before JUICE can start making its way to Jupiter. The spacecraft still has to fly past Earth in September 2026 and then again in January 2029 before it will finally have enough speed to make the quick hop to Jupiter by 2031.
Flyby success! ESA’s Juice spacecraft passed Venus at 07:28 CEST on 31 August.This photo shows our deep-space antenna in Spain in communication with Juice during the flyby.Juice’s current location, Venus, and its destination, Jupiter, are both visible in the sky ??
— ESA Operations (@operations.esa.int) 2025-09-01T09:37:03.353Z
JUICE mission launched on April 14, 2023
ESA‘s JUICE mission launched on April 14, 2023, after a one-day delay due to lightning at ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana. The spacecraft lifted off successfully into cloudy skies, beginning a multi-year mission to Jupiter and its icy moons.
As often happens with missions to the outer solar system, the spacecraft will take a circuitous route to Jupiter, making multiple sweeps past the Earth, moon and Venus. Then, in 2031, it’ll arrive at the giant planet. At that time it’ll perform 35 flybys of the Galilean moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, before going into orbit around the largest moon, Ganymede.
JUICE stands for JUpiter Icy Moons Explorer.
Jammed antenna
The JUICE mission’s primary antenna jammed soon after launch. But after three weeks of troubleshooting, engineers finally managed to fix the antenna. As the spacecraft traveled through deep space, JUICE mission control tried using thrusters to shake the antenna. Then they tried warming the jammed components in the sun’s rays. Finally, the team fired a mechanical device called an actuator. And that’s what made the antenna break free from its stuck position on May 12, 2023.
This RIME antenna, which stands for Radar for Icy Moons Exploration, will be used to study the structure of Jupiter’s icy moons down to a depth of 5.5 miles (9 km) when it finally reaches the gas giant in July 2031.
JUICE mission goals
ESA said its goals for JUICE are to:
… make detailed observations of the giant gas planet and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa – with a suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments.
And, ESA said, the mission will characterize these moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats.
ESA hopes that a wider study of the Jupiter system can be used as an archetype for gas giant planets and their moons across our Milky Way galaxy.
Why JUICE will study Europa
JUICE will arrive at Jupiter in 2031. One of the moons it will observe is perhaps the most fascinating of the Jovian moons to Earthly scientists: Europa. This moon is thought to have an ocean of liquid water under its icy crust (also made of water ice). And JUICE is designed to look for the sort of chemistry on Europa that is essential to life on Earth, for example organic molecules, or molecules containing carbon that are key to life on Earth.
JUICE also aims to understand the formation of Europa’s surface features and the composition of any non-water-ice material.
Why JUICE will study Ganymede
After a series of flybys of Jupiter and three of its large, icy moons, JUICE will eventually settle into an orbit around the largest moon, Ganymede. JUICE will orbit Ganymede down to 125 miles (200 km) for about three years. It’ll end its mission with an impact on the moon’s surface.
While at Ganymede, JUICE has many science objectives. They include:
- Characterization of the ocean layers and detection of possible subsurface water reservoirs.
- Topographical, geological and compositional mapping of the surface.
- Study of the physical properties of the icy crust.
- Characterization of the internal mass distribution, dynamics and evolution of the interior.
- Investigation of the exosphere.
- Study of Ganymede’s intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere.
Having a better understanding of this wet, cold world will also help us understand possible distant worlds around other suns, scientists say.
JUICE mocktails
Earlier this year, ESA had a little fun with the acronym JUICE, by holding a space juice contest. Check out these beautiful mocktails, and find the recipes here.
JUICE art, from kids
ESA also invited kids from around the world to create JUICE-inspired artwork. Read more about the contest here. The winning entry – submitted by 8-year-old Yaryna from Ukraine – is going to space! It’s painted on the Ariane 5 rocket which will launch JUICE.
Bottom line: The JUICE mission successfully performed a gravity assist around Venus on August 31, 2025, helping it pick up speed for its long journey to Jupiter.
Read more: Icy moons’ puzzling features may be due to salty ice
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