The European JUICE mission is heading to Jupiter. With Czech components on board.14/4/2023|Press releasesThe European Space Agency (ESA) today successfully launched its largest and most comprehensive space mission to Jupiter, the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), with the participation of the Czech space industry and scientific institutions. The mission aims at better understanding of the processes in the Solar System by studying Jupiter and its system of moons. Such companies as Frentech Aerospace, 5M and L.K. Engineering, which contributed to the composite robotic arm that carries the super-sensitive magnetometers and the radiation shielding elements, are involved from the Czech industry. BD Sensors then made the electronics parts that must survive the extreme conditions around Jupiter. The Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the CAS and the Astronomical Institute of the CAS also participated in the instrument for electromagnetic wave measurements (RPWI). JUICE will focus in its first phase on Jupiter itself and its atmosphere, magnetosphere and environment around the Solar System's largest planet, building on the US Galileo spacecraft from the 1990s. It will then study the 3 icy moons of Jupiter, Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, which have liquid water under their icy crust. This, in combination with other factors, could provide suitable conditions for sustaining life. The six-tonne JUICE probe with 10 instruments on board was carried into space by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle, with ATC Space, a Klatovy-based company, participating in its production. After launch, JUICE will embark on an 8-year journey to Jupiter, where it will operate until 2035.