The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced it will launch a mission to study Jupiter’s icy moons in 2022. The mission will study Europa, Ganymede and Callisto for signs of habitable environments.

The probe which has initially been named JUICE (JUpiter ICy Moon Explorer) will also analyze Jupiter’s atmosphere, its enormous magnetosphere and how the gas giant interacts with the Galilean moons.

It is believed that Europa, Ganymede and Callisto have internal oceans which could provide an environment for life to exist, probably in microbial form. The mission will investigate whether the Jovian system, which is considered a small solar system, has habitable zones.

As well as being the largest moon in the solar system Ganymede is the only moon which produces a magnetic field. In the latter part of its mission JUICE will observe Ganymede and how its magnetic field interacts with Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

Although the mission will be launched in 2022 it will be a further 8 years before it reaches Jupiter. The probe will be launched from the ESA’s spaceport in French Guiana on an Ariane 5 rocket.

Prof. Alvaro Giménez Cañete, ESA's Director of Science and Robotic Exploration said "JUICE will give us better insight into how gas giants and their orbiting worlds form, and their potential for hosting life."

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