The European Space Agency is set to launch a satellite to Jupiter today in its biggest deep-space mission yet to explore whether its ocean-bearing moons can support life.

The six-tonne probe, named Juice, is set to launch on an Ariane 5 rocket at 1.15pm UK time from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

After lift-off, Juice will separate from the rocket about half an hour later, and will then embark on a 4.1 billion-mile journey that will take more than eight years.

Juice cost more than €1bn to create and has been in the works for more than a decade. It has ten instruments on board, which will scan the Jovian moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto for signs of habitability.

Scientists from Imperial College London have led the development of one instrument, known as the magnetometer, which will measure the characteristics of the magnetic fields of Jupiter and Ganymede.

Read the full article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/04/13/juice-rocket-launch-jupiter-european-space-agency-watch/

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