Mission Calendar

 

This page details the key dates for the Flight Activities in the Juice mission. These informations are coming from the JUICE Mission Calendar (Report 1.6).

This page has been edited for the last time in April 2025.

 

Mission Phases

The baseline trajectory for the Juice mission is defined as 150lb. JUICE was launch with an Arianne 5 on 14/04/2023, and following nominal injection it is planned to arrive to Jupiter on 21/07/2031.

Phase

Sub-phase

Start date

End date

Duration (days)

Notes
Launch and Early Orbit   14/04/2023 15/04/2023 2 Completed
Near Earth Commissioning   16/04/2023 20/07/2023 96 Completed
Interplanetary Transfer Phase Cruise arc 1 21/07/2023 23/06/2024 350 Completed
  Earth Gravity Assist 24/06/2024 22/09/2024 90 First Moon-Earth Flyby
Completed
  Cruise arc 2 23/09/2024 01/07/2025 281  
  Venus Gravity Assist 02/07/2025 30/09/2025 90 Flyby at close Sun distance
  Cruise arc 3 01/10/2025 30/07/2026 302  
  Earth Gravity Assist 31/07/2026 29/10/2026 90  
  Cruise arc 4 30/10/2026 18/11/2028 750  
  Earth Gravity Assist 19/11/2028 17/02/2029 90  
  Cruise arc 5 18/02/2029 20/01/2031 702  
Nominal Science Phase   21/01/2031 28/09/2035 1530 Phase starts at JOI - 6 months
  Jupiter Arrival
and Orbit Insertion		 21/06/2031 22/07/2031 30  

 

Eclipses

These are the eclipse during the cruise for 150lb.

Date

Eclipsed by

Duration [hrs]
2024/08/19 Moon 0.55
2026/09/27 Earth 2.8
2029/01/17 Earth 0.4

 

Oppositions

These are the oppositions during the cruise for 150lb.

Opposition Event #

Start date

End date

Duration (days)
1 19/08/2024 19/08/2024 1
2 25/09/2026 27/09/2026 3
3 20/03/2027 26/03/2027 7
4 21/07/2028 27/07/2028 7
5 24/02/2029 04/03/2029 9
6 23/05/2030 30/05/2030 7
7 13/06/2031 21/06/2031 9

 

Hot cruise conditions

During the inner part of the Cruise phase, the hot environment is expected to constraint spacecraft operations. 

Activity

Start date

End date

Duration (days)

Notes
Hot Cruise #1 Launch 04/11/2023 205 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Very Hot Cruise #2 05/11/2023 13/01/2024 70 Period under 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #3 14/01/2024 18/10/2024 279 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Very Hot Cruise #4 19/10/2024 17/03/2025 150 Period under 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #5 18/03/2025 20/07/2025 125 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Very Hot Cruise #6 21/07/2025 25/10/2025 97 Period under 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #7 26/10/2025 09/01/2026 76 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #8 01/08/2026 19/10/2026 80 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Very Hot Cruise #9 20/10/2026 30/11/2026 42 Period under 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #10 01/12/2026 07/02/2027 69 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #11 10/09/2028 18/11/2028 70 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU
Very Hot Cruise #12 19/11/2028 29/12/2028 41 Period under 0.89 AU
Hot Cruise #13 30/12/2028 06/03/2029 64 Period below 1.34 AU and above 0.89 AU

 

Evolution of interplanetary cruise distance. (Credit: JUI-ESOC-MOC-PL-002)


 

Payload Checkout

Payload Checkouts are periodic operations of the Instruments on-board with the goal to ensure health and safety of the equipment, and to allow limited unit performance tests. The following table provides a preliminary allocation for the Payload Checkout Windows. Note that the provided dates are indicative and may be revised in the future.

Checkout #

Date

Sun Distance [AU]

Days since previous

OWLT [sec]

Notes
1 22/01/2024 0.90 130 N/A First Checkout, shortly after end of VHC#1 arc. MGA
2 01/07/2024 1.08 50 161 6 weeks before LEGA#1, MGA
3 31/03/2025 0.94 690 270 Shortly after VHC arc, very low TM bit rate, MGA
4 23/02/2026 1.50 960 332 Pointing Campaign #1: First Checkout without attitude constraints, HGA, Long period since previous one.
5 20/07/2026 1.39 270 147 Before EGAM#2, no thermal attitude constraints, HGA
6 08/02/2027 1.34 277 203 Pointing Campaign #2: Immediately after HC arc, no thermal attitude constraints, HGA
7 05/07/2027 2.16 1300 147 Midway on first large Sun distance arc, no thermal constraints, HGA
8 13/12/2027 2.40 1680 161 Checkout at maximum Sun distance up to this point, HGA
9 26/06/2028 1.83 440 196 Pointing Campaign #3: Inbound Cruise arc towards last EGAM, and before Hot Cruise phase. No thermal attitude constraints, HGA
10 19/01/2029 0.99 15 207 +2 days around last EGAM. Last Checkout in Earth's vicinity. MGA
11 23/07/2029 2.56 1400 184 Pointing Campaign #4: First Checkout in Outer Cruise, available TM Bit rate will be lower from now on, HGA
12 03/12/2029 3.50 2215 133 Shortly after Superior Conjunction #3, far side of the Sun, HGA
13 13/05/2030 4.30 1653 161 Pointing Campaign #5: Closest approach to Earth before Jupiter Arrival, HGA
14 19/11/2030 4.90 2920 189 Before Superior Conjunction. Far side of the Sun, HGA