The central core of the Ariane 5 rocket that will carry ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) into space is being hoisted into the air at the ‘Batiment d’Intégration Lanceur (BIL)’ – or launch vehicle integration building – at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

All the Ariane 5 stages, including the central core, were transported to the harbour of Kourou (Pariacabo) in French Guiana by boat from various places in Europe last December. During the transport the central core was stowed horizontally. On 28 February it was taken out of its shipping container and progressively raised into a vertical position. Raising the 30 m tall central core is no easy feat; a team of engineers carried out the delicate operation using specific crane and ground support equipment attached to both ends of the core.

Juice is humankind’s next bold mission to the outer Solar System. It will make detailed observations of gas giant Jupiter and its three large ocean-bearing moons – Ganymede, Callisto and Europa. This ambitious mission will characterise these moons with a powerful suite of remote sensing, geophysical and in situ instruments to discover more about these compelling destinations as potential habitats for past or present life. Juice will monitor Jupiter’s complex magnetic, radiation and plasma environment in depth and its interplay with the moons, studying the Jupiter system as an archetype for gas giant systems across the Universe.  

These activities mark the beginning of a six-week campaign to prepare the Ariane 5 for Juice’s launch on 13 April. It runs in parallel with teams preparing Juice for launch, a task that started three weeks earlier. On 1 April Juice will be placed onto the Ariane 5 before being encapsulated on 4 April. The whole system will be rolled out onto the launch pad on 11 April.

Find out more about Juice in ESA’s launch kit