JUICE completes successful Venus flyby on its journey to Jupiter
"ESA’s JUICE spacecraft flew past Venus on August 31. The RADEM monitor from LIP remained active and collected valuable radiation data."
On August 31st, 2025, at 05:28 (Lisbon time), ESA’s JUICE (JUpiter ICy moons Explorer) spacecraft successfully performed a gravity-assist flyby of Venus, a crucial maneuver on its long journey toward Jupiter and its icy moons.
The mission’s final goal is to study Jupiter and three of its largest moons - Ganymede, Callisto, and Europa - which are believed to host subsurface oceans and may hold clues in the search for extraterrestrial life.
While the extreme temperatures near Venus led to the shutdown of most scientific instruments, the RADEM radiation monitor, developed and operated by LIP’s SpaceRad group, remained active and collected valuable data. A burst of solar energetic particles was recorded during the event, providing a rare opportunity to study particle propagation in the inner solar system.
“This event reinforces the importance of flying radiation monitors on all space missions,” said Marco Pinto, from the LIP team involved in JUICE. “RADEM once again proved its relevance.”
The flyby of Venus follows a trajectory that may seem counterintuitive but is part of a complex gravity-assist strategy, allowing JUICE to gain speed and correct its path without excessive fuel consumption. The spacecraft had previously passed by the Moon and Earth in August 2024.
RADEM will continue to operate during the next key milestones, including a new Earth flyby in 2026, before finally reaching Jupiter in July 2031, when the mission will begin its primary science phase.