European space probe on its way to Jupiter, second attempt successful 15:04 in the Interior The rocket was supposed to be launched yesterday, but bad weather canceled it at the last minute.

After some delay, the JUICE space probe of the European space agency ESA left. The rocket was launched at 2.16 pm Dutch time. The probe was supposed to have started its space journey yesterday, but due to bad weather at the base in French Guiana, the launch was canceled ten minutes before departure.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, or JUICE for short, is on its way to Jupiter. About a hundred moons revolve around the planet. The main purpose of the space mission is to investigate whether life could arise on those moons. The results for this will be a while yet: JUICE will probably not arrive at Jupiter until the summer of 2031.

The Dutch also contributed to the construction of the rocket: JUICE is equipped with 85 square meters of folded solar panels made by the aerospace technology company Airbus in Leiden.

Watch the launch here:

The launch of the rocket and with it the start of the space mission was an exciting moment for ESA. In 2016, the European Space Agency organized its last independent mission beyond the orbit of Mars.

Once at Jupiter, JUICE will conduct research on three of the planet’s moons: Europa, Ganymede and Calisto. Scientists have high expectations of Europe in particular: large amounts of water are said to be present there, which is important for the possible presence of life.

In addition, scientists hope that JUICE can tell them more about the functioning of our solar system and there are devices on the probe that can determine the composition of the atmosphere or measure the presence of radioactivity.

At the end of the mission, the probe will orbit Ganymede a few times before crashing into the moon in 2035.