Juice’s September 2026 Earth flyby: the movie
ESA’s Juice spacecraft performed a gravity assist flyby of Earth on 28 September 2026, capturing unique images of the planet during its close pass.
On 28 September 2026, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) executed a gravity assist flyby of Earth, passing just 8,640 km above the Indian Ocean. The manoeuvre increased Juice’s velocity by 3.5 km/s and altered its trajectory by 20°, setting it on course for its next destination. Flight controllers at ESA’s mission control guided the spacecraft through the precise flyby, ensuring the planned velocity change and deflection were achieved. The operation was part of Juice’s long journey to study Jupiter’s icy moons, leveraging Earth’s gravity to conserve fuel and adjust its path.
Juice’s onboard monitoring cameras captured a series of images during the flyby, offering a rare ‘Juice eye view’ of Earth. The spacecraft’s monitoring cameras, typically used to track booms and antennas, delivered 1024 x 1024 pixel snapshots that were processed in colour. These images provided a bonus scientific and public outreach opportunity, showcasing Earth from a unique perspective. The sequence of photos was compiled into a short video, highlighting the spacecraft’s changing view of the planet.
The video begins with footage from Juice monitoring camera 2 (JMC2), showing Earth as a thin crescent in the bottom right of the frame. Around 10 seconds into the video, the view switches to Juice monitoring camera 1 (JMC1), which captures nearly the full disc of Earth in the top right. The prominent landmass visible is Africa, with the Moon appearing as a small grey dot to the right of Earth. The final frame from JMC1 shows Earth shrinking into the distance as Juice departs on 29 September.
The flyby was a critical step in Juice’s mission timeline, enabling it to gain the necessary speed and direction for its journey to Jupiter. ESA confirmed the spacecraft’s systems operated as expected during the manoeuvre, with no anomalies reported. The images and video provide both technical and visual documentation of the event, contributing to public engagement and mission transparency. Juice is now on track for its next flyby, continuing its path toward the Jovian system.