The European Space Agency (ESA) is breathing easier after communications with Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) were restored – the spacecraft is currently barreling toward Venus for a gravity-assist flyby on August 31.

ESA backs five rockets in Launcher Challenge – only some have exploded

The probe , which was launched in April 2023 , began giving controllers the silent treatment when ESA's deep space antenna in Cebreros, Spain, failed to contact the spacecraft at the expected time of 0450 CEST on July 16. The ground station appeared to be functioning properly, and when ESA's New Norcia station also failed to make contact, controllers realized the problem was on Juice itself.

So what had happened? If there had been a major failure, Juice might have gone into survival mode and entered

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