Science & Exploration
Juice flies past Earth in September 2026 – context view
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will return to Earth on 28 September, with flight controllers guiding the spacecraft close to our home planet to alter its speed and direction en route to Jupiter.
Juice’s 10 science instruments will be switched on to collect data on Earth and the Moon between 23 September and 3 October. Meanwhile, Juice’s navigation camera – which will ultimately help the spacecraft steer around Jupiter’s moons – will take the opportunity to point towards the horizon of our own Moon. The images it takes will test out a new technique to improve the accuracy of its optical navigation.
Juice’s two onboard monitoring cameras will be snapping photos throughout the flyby.
