DARMSTADT, Germany — The European Space Agency confirmed on Thursday that its Juice spacecraft completed a gravity-assist manoeuvre near Venus, adjusting its velocity for the long cruise toward Jupiter and its ocean-bearing moons. Mission controllers at the European Space Operations Centre tracked the pass.

Juice, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, launched in April 2023 on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. The €1.6bn mission relies on a series of planetary flybys to build the speed needed to reach the outer Solar System, with arrival at Jupiter scheduled for 2031.

The spacecraft carries ten scientific instruments designed to study Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, moons believed to harbour vast liquid water oceans beneath their icy crusts. ESA engineers used the flyby both to bend the trajectory and to calibrate sensors against a known planetary target.

The manoeuvre was essential to keeping the mission on schedule, as any deviation would cascade through subsequent gravity assists. Telemetry showed the spacecraft operating nominally after the close approach.

Juice will eventually enter orbit around Ganymede, becoming the first spacecraft to orbit a moon other than Earth's own. Scientists hope the data will clarify whether conditions suitable for life exist in the subsurface oceans of the Jovian system.