The acronym for the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission is JUICE. The name expands to “JUpiter ICy moons Explorer,” with unusual capitalization emphasizing the letters used to form the acronym.
JUICE is a European Space Agency mission launched in 2023 to study Jupiter and three large icy moons: Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa. Its main scientific targets are the moons’ interiors, surfaces, thin atmospheres, magnetic environments, and possible subsurface oceans. The mission is especially focused on Ganymede, which is the largest moon in the Solar System.
The spacecraft launched on April 14, 2023, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. It is taking a long, carefully planned route using gravity assists from the Moon, Earth, and Venus before reaching the Jovian system. Arrival is planned for 2031, after which JUICE will eventually enter orbit around Ganymede.
JUNO is a different mission: NASA’s spacecraft launched in 2011 to orbit Jupiter and study the planet itself. JIMO was an earlier proposed NASA concept, while JOVE is not the official acronym for this ESA mission.