The Europa Jupiter System Mission will use two robotic orbiters to conduct unprecedented detailed studies of the giant gaseous planet Jupiter and its moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. NASA will build one spacecraft, initially named Jupiter Europa Orbiter. ESA will build the other spacecraft, initially named Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter. The two spacecraft are scheduled to launch in 2020 on two separate launch vehicles from different launch sites. They will reach the Jupiter system in 2026 and spend at least three years conducting research.
Europa, with its putative ocean, is a unique target to study habitability around the gas giant. Ganymede, the largest moon in the Solar System, is the only moon known to have its own internally-generated magnetic field and is also suspected to have a deep undersurface water ocean. Scientists long have sought to understand the causes of the magnetic field. Io, the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, and Callisto, whose surface is heavily cratered and ancient, providing a record of events from the early history of the Solar System, are also key targets of the Jupiter System Mission.
The two orbiters will spend nearly a year orbiting Europa and Ganymede, respectively. They will synergically address the science of the Jupiter system to better understand the formation and evolution of the Jovian system.
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