Juice completes second Earth flyby

ESA’s Juice spacecraft successfully completed its second Earth flyby, using the planet’s gravity to change course and gain speed.

During the flyby, Juice passed 8,640 kilometers above Earth’s surface. The manoeuvre deflected its trajectory by 20 degrees and increased its speed by 3.5 km/s.

Only one trajectory adjustment was needed in the four weeks leading up to the flyby.

The spacecraft spent several days travelling through Earth’s magnetotail, collecting data with its suite of 10 scientific instruments, four of which were provided by Italy.

During the passage, Juice pointed its navigation camera at the lunar horizon to test an optical navigation technique.

ESA plans to publish images and spectra obtained during the flyby in the coming weeks.

The flyby demonstrated precise deep-space navigation and tested an optical method that uses the lunar horizon, a technique directly relevant to future missions operating near the Moon.

Juice launched in April 2023 from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana.

The mission’s upcoming trajectory includes a Venus flyby, observations of comet 3I/ATLAS in 2025, and two major milestones scheduled for January 2029 and July 2031. Six navigation windows are planned along the way.