The European Space Agency completed the preliminary design review for the Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer, giving a go-ahead to prime contractor Airbus and its partners to start building a prototype spacecraft to test systems for the challenging mission known simply as Juice.
The 1.5 billion-euro ($1.62 billion) mission — expected to launch on its seven-year journey in 2022 — is Europe’s first shot at exploring the solar system’s largest planet and its moons at close quarters. Giuseppe Sarri, ESA’s Juice project manager, said the 22-member space agency has never attempted a mission of this difficulty and complexity.
“Juice is certainly a step forward for ESA,” Sarri said. “To get to Jupiter, we will have to perform five flybys, which is something we haven’t done before. The environment around Jupiter is extremely harsh and we would have to make sure the spacecraft’s electronics are properly protected from the extremely high radiation, otherwise the computers could be dead in two weeks.”
ESA will contribute 940 million euros (in 2014 terms) towards the overall budget of the mission, covering the construction of the spacecraft, an Ariane 5 launch, the operations and scientific ground segment, as well as the actual running of the mission. The mission’s 10 scientific instruments, including cameras, an ice-penetrating radar, an altimeter, radio-science experiments, and sensors to monitor the magnetic field, will be paid for by the national space agencies of ESA’s member states.
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