The European space probe Juice of the European Space Agency (ESA) took off this Friday towards Jupiter and its icy moonson an Ariane 5 rocket, from the European spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana.

The successful launch marks the start of an ambitious journey to unravel the secrets of the ocean worlds around the giant planet Jupiter, says ESA.

The rocket lifted off at 12:14 GMT, 24 hours after the launch was postponed due to the risk of storms. The probe separated from the launch vehicle 27 minutes after launch, as planned, at an altitude of about 1,500 kilometers.

Once the separation was successful, the teams had to wait for the satellite to transmit its first signal.which he finally did after a few long minutes of suspense.

The probe, weighing more than six tons, was then able to deploy its huge solar panels the size of a basketball court, another important stage.

“ESA is on its way to Jupiter with its international partners”, says Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA. “Together we will continue to push the boundaries of science and exploration to answer humanity’s biggest questions.he added.

“It is thanks to ESA’s leadership and the efforts and commitment of hundreds of European scientific institutions and industries that Juice’s mission has become a reality,” said Giuseppe Sarri, ESA’s Juice project manager. “Together with our partners, NASA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the Israel Space Agency, who also contributed hardware or scientific instruments, we have reached this highly anticipated launch milestone”.

In Jupiter’s satellites, the probe searches for environments conducive to the appearance of extraterrestrial life forms. It will not reach its destination until 2031more than 400 million miles from Earth, at the end of a hectic journey.

Juice’s main target is Ganymede, the largest satellite in the solar system and the only one with a magnetic field that shields it from radiation. It should reach its orbit around 2034.

Jupiter is uninhabitable, but its moons Europa and Ganymede raise hope: Beneath their icy surface, they hide oceans of liquid water, one of the elements considered essential to life.

Conceived by Airbus, Juice has ten scientific instruments: optical camera, imaging spectrometer, radar, altimeter, magnetometer, among other instruments. It is also equipped with huge 85 square meter solar panels to capture energy in an environment where sunlight is 25 times weaker than on Earth.