The European Space Agency’s JUICE spacecraft flew past Earth on 28 September 2026, using our planet’s gravity to gain speed on its long journey to Jupiter. At closest approach, the probe skimmed just 8,640 kilometres above the Indian Ocean at 11:45 UTC, its monitoring cameras capturing images of Earth and the Moon.

The gravity assist added about 3.5 kilometres per second to the spacecraft’s velocity and bent its trajectory by roughly 20 degrees, all without burning significant fuel. It was the third gravity-assist manoeuvre since JUICE launched in April 2023, following a lunar-Earth flyby in August 2024 and a Venus flyby in August 2025.

The spacecraft will return for one final Earth flyby in January 2029 before cruising to Jupiter, where it is expected to arrive in July 2031. There it will study the ocean-bearing moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, eventually entering orbit around Ganymede – a first for any spacecraft.