The European Space Agency's (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) mission will return to Earth on September 28 for a gravity assist maneuver. Flight controllers will guide the spacecraft close to our planet, using Earth's gravity to adjust its speed and direction. This marks the third of four planned gravity assist flybys, a crucial technique to propel the probe towards its ultimate destination: the Jovian system.

These gravity assists are essential for Juice to achieve the necessary velocity for its interplanetary journey without requiring an excessive amount of fuel. The spacecraft, launched in April 2023, has already completed two previous flybys: one of Earth and the Moon in August 2024, and another of Venus in February 2025. The September 28, 2026 flyby will be one of the last opportunities to refine its trajectory before its arrival at Jupiter in 2031.

Once at Jupiter, Juice will spend several years studying three of its icy ocean moons—Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—which are believed to harbor subsurface oceans of liquid water. The mission's primary goal is to investigate the potential habitability of these worlds. The information gathered during this cruise phase, including data from the flybys, is vital to ensure the spacecraft arrives at its destination with the optimal trajectory and resources to conduct its ambitious scientific research.