JUICE will communicate with Earth using technology from OHB subsidiary Antwerp Space

Antwerp, 14.4.2023.  JUICE will spend three-and-a-half years examining Jupiter's atmosphere, magnetosphere, set of rings and it will study the large icy moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto, which are thought to have oceans of liquid water beneath their frozen crusts – perhaps even harboring habitable environments. The mission will culminate in an eight-month tour around Ganymede and end with the probe's planned impact on the moon's surface in 2034.

Antwerp Space, a subsidiary of technology and space group OHB SE, has carried out development of the Communication Subsystem on behalf of the main contractor, Airbus Defence and Space. The Communication Subsystem will communicate with Earth during the eight-year mission journey and the following science phase. “The Communication Subsystem has been designed for the stringent requirements and harsh environment of the JUICE mission, optimized, analyzed, integrated and successfully tested by the Antwerp Space engineering team for four years.” says Hugues Vasseur, the Lead Engineer of Antwerp Space’s team.

Developing a communication subsystem for a mission such as JUICE requires strong space engineering knowledge and heritage. This system will enable communication on an average distance between Earth and Jupiter of approximately 800 million kilometers and needs to survive the extreme environmental conditions around Jupiter.

“I am very proud of the JUICE team and would like to thank Airbus Defence and Space and ESA for the valued and close collaboration. Once again, Antwerp Space has successfully demonstrated its capability to take full end-responsibility in the design of such a complex system,” says Koen Puimège, Managing Director of Antwerp Space.