A European Space Agency probe has launched on a mission to explore Jupiter's icy, ocean-bearing moons, a day after the first attempt was called off due to the threat of lightning.
The spacecraft was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana this afternoon, with teams on site saying it was on the correct trajectory.
The uncrewed, six-tonne probe is on an eight-year journey through the Solar System aiming to discover whether Jupiter's moons are capable of hosting extraterrestrial life in the vast oceans hidden under their ice-covered shells.
The JUpiter ICy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is taking a long and winding path to Jupiter, which is 628 million kilometres from Earth.
It will use several gravitational boosts along the way, first by doing a fly-by of Earth and the Moon, then by slingshotting around Venus in 2025 before swinging past Earth again in 2029.
When the probe finally arrives at Jupiter in July 2031, it will need to carefully hit the brakes to enter the gas giant's orbit.
From there, it will focus on Jupiter and its three icy moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
The moons were first discovered by astronomer Galileo Galilei more than 400 years ago, but were long ignored as potential candidates for hosting life.
Another view of @ariane5 #VA260 liftoff and ascent. For real-time mission updates, follow @Arianespace and @ESA_JUICE 👍 pic.twitter.com/1YCuYhPr2h
— ESA (@esa) April 14, 2023
However, the discovery of huge oceans of liquid water - the main ingredient for life as we know it - kilometres beneath their icy shells has made Ganymede and Europa prime candidates to potentially host life in our celestial backyard.
JUICE will set its sights on Ganymede, the Solar System's largest moon and the only one that has its own magnetic field, which protects it from radiation.
In 2034, JUICE will slide into Ganymede's orbit, the first time a spacecraft will have done so around a moon other than our own.
The mission will not be able to directly detect the existence of alien life, but instead aims to establish whether the moons have the right conditions to harbour life.
The delayed launch of the €1.6 billion mission comes during a crisis for European space efforts, after Russia pulled its Soyuz rockets in response to sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Combined with repeated delays to the next generation Ariane 6 rockets and the failure of Vega-C's first commercial flight last year, Europe has been struggling to launch its missions into space.
JUICE is expected be the second-last launch for Ariane 5 before it is replaced by the Ariane 6.
