Juno Spacecraft Mission Description

The core of the Juno Spacecraft is 3.5 meters tall and 3.5 meters in diameter. It is hexagonal in shape and
features a two-deck structure. The vehicle utilizes composite panel and clip construction for decks, central
cylinder and gusset panels. Juno has a liftoff mass of 3,625 Kilograms and is equipped with a variety of
subsystems. Juno is a spin-stabilized spacecraft and does not use reaction wheels to maintain its attitude.
Spin rates vary from one to five rpm during the different phases of the mission.

1- Juno Mission & Trajectory Design

The Juno mission to Jupiter has been divided into 13
mission phases with different durations. Each mission
phase has its own specific milestones and events as the
long Juno mission progresses. The Juno flight begins in
August 2011 and is planned to have a duration of six and a
half years, lasting until February 2018.
Launching in August 2011, Juno is being placed in a
heliocentric orbit that takes it beyond the orbit of Mars
leading up to two Deep Space Maneuvers about 13 months
after launch, when Juno is reaching aphelion. Afterwards,
Juno is inbound again to set the stage for a Gravity Assist
Flyby of Earth in October 2013 to boost the spacecraft
velocity in order to put it on a trajectory to Jupiter.
More than two years of Quiet Cruise follow before the
Jupiter Approach Phase Begins for the final 178 days prior
to Juno’s arrival. To insert itself into Jupiter Orbit, Juno
performs a large Orbit Insertion Maneuver to place it in a
107-day Capture Orbit during which a Period Reduction
Maneuver is performed to achieve the 14-day science
orbit. Juno conducts a total of 33 science orbits before the
planned end of the mission approaches. After passing
perijove on Orbit 36 (Closest approach to Jupiter), Juno makes a deorbit burn to prepare for EOM (End of
Mission) via destructive entry into the Gas Giant. When the Mission has ended, scientists perform two years
of data analysis.

2- Juno’s basic Trajectory

The name of Juno’s trajectory to Jupiter is formally known as ‘2+ dV-EGA’. EGA stands for Earth Gravity
Assist and the 2+ specifies the timing of that flyby occurring a little more than two years into the mission.
dV indicates that Juno utilizes a hyperbolic excess velocity leveraging trajectory. This trajectory is attractive
because it features a short flight time to Jupiter while saving launch energy costs.
Juno’s Launch window was limited by a number of mission events and their timings such as the Deep Space
Maneuvers, the Earth Flyby, the Jupiter Insertion and the science orbits.
In addition, the Mission design was limited by the Launch Energy and the dV budget (Delta Velocity,
Velocity changes through engine burns).

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 3- Mission Phases
3-1- Pre-Launch
Juno’s Pre-Launch Mission phase begins 72 hours prior to liftoff to L-45 minutes. The spacecraft is powered
up three days before launch for final status and health checks prior to countdown operations. Mating to the
Centaur Upper Stage of the Atlas V Rocket occurs 10 days prior to liftoff, one week before Pre-Launch
starts. The final days leading up to liftoff are dedicated to integrated testing of the launcher and the Juno
vehicle. At L-45 minutes, Juno is in its final configuration for launch.
Juno’s launch window extended from August 5 to August 26, 2011 with at least 60 minutes of window open
time each day. The launch period was optimized to maximize injected mass
into Jupiter science orbits. The launch period was designed to keep the
overall launch energy and Deep Space Maneuver delta-V low while meeting
constraints imposed by spacecraft requirements and navigation limitations.
Through the Period Reduction Clean Up Maneuver, the mission has a dV
budget of around 2,000m/s.

3-2- Launch
Juno launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 551 Rocket which is
the most powerful Atlas V flown to date. In its 551 configuration, Atlas V
features an Atlas Common Core Booster, five solid rocket boosters, a
single-engine Centaur Upper Stage and a 5-meter Payload Fairing.
Juno launched at 16:25 UTC on August 5, 2011, the first day of the 21-day
launch window. The exact day Juno launches was of great interest to
trajectory and mission planners that put much though into developing the
launch window (refer to the Trajectory Sections on this page). After blasting
off, the five SRBs boosted the vehicle during the initial 90 seconds of the flight along with the RD-180 main
engine of the first stage.

3-3- Solar Array Deployment

One crucial step of the Juno Mission was the deployment of the vehicle’s three solar arrays. The deployment
sequence was initiated 5 minutes after spacecraft separation and had a duration of about three minutes.
Pyrotechnic devices, which are known to be the most reliable solution for spacecraft deployments, were used
to free the arrays from their stowed position. One set was used to free the arrays and another set was used to
deploy them. Solar Array Deployment was as expected and Juno was healthy as it departed Earth to begin its
long, long mission to the Gas Giant.

3-4- Cruise Phase

Cruise begins roughly three days after launch and continues for nearly five years as the vehicle makes one-
and-a-half orbits around the Sun, a close Earth Flyby and Deep Space Maneuvers before reaching the

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vicinity of Jupiter where the Jupiter Approach Phase is started. Juno’s path to Jupiter is divided into four
different types of cruise phases. The Inner Cruise
Phases occur mostly within the Orbit of Mars
with a period outside the Orbit during Inner
Cruise 2 where the DSMs take place, and the
Quiet Cruise which is the longest phase of the
mission with a duration of more than two years.
a- Inner Cruise 1 – 63 Days
The first longer Mission Phase of the Juno
Mission is used to perform spacecraft health
status checks to make sure all systems have
survived the launch environment. Instruments are
powered up and checked briefly to confirm vehicle health.
b- Inner Cruise 2 – 597 Days
During IC2, the vehicle uses its High Gain Antenna for communications for the first time as part of nominal
communications system commissioning. In addition, the science instruments of the vehicle undergo
extensive checkouts during that phase of the mission.
During Inner Cruise 2, Juno crosses the Orbit of Mars and flies beyond it to reach Aphelion on September 2,
2012 and start its trip back to the inner Solar System. Aphelion is about 2.26 Astronomical Units. Around
the time of aphelion pass, Juno performs is two Deep Space Maneuvers.
Deep Space Maneuvers
When coming close to aphelion, Juno performs two
large Deep Space Maneuvers. These events are critical
mission events of the 2+ dV-EGA Mission Trajectory
because they target Juno’s Path back to Earth. Without
the DSMs, Juno would be stuck in Heliocentric Orbit
for all eternity. Theoretically, the DSMs could be
performed with a single burn which would actually
provide a better net result in terms of required delta-V,
but the burn was cut in half since the Leros 1b main
engine of the spacecraft was not qualified for 60-
minute burns prior to Juno’s launch. To avoid main engine problems, two DSMs were implemented in the
mission profile, each with a length of about 30 minutes, with burns taking place two days prior and two days
after aphelion. Ten days after the second DSM, Juno uses its Reaction Control System to perform a post-
DSM Clean-Up Maneuver to precisely align its
trajectory to the planned path towards Earth.
The DSM sequence begins 48 hours before each of the
burns. About 45 minutes prior to a burn, Juno makes a
re-orientation to the burn attitude, leaving its nominal
flight attitude, pointing its High Gain Antenna off
Earth, meaning that only low gain communications are
available during the burns. Via the toroidal Low Gain
Antenna of Juno, MFSK Tones are sent to give insight
into vehicle and burn status. These tones are also used

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for Jupiter Orbit Insertion which gives teams a chance to familiarize themselves with the system. 15 minutes
after each burn, Juno returns to the nominal attitude to continue its Cruise.
c- Inner Cruise 3 – 161 Days
Once being back inside the Martian Orbit, at L+661 Days, Juno begins the Inner Cruise 3 Phase which is
shorter than IC2, but a bit more intense. The 161 days of IC3 are busy for the Juno Mission Team that
rehearses a full cycle of integrated spacecraft operations around the time of the Earth Flyby that Juno will
make. Also for the Flyby, more instruments will be turned on to acquire science data from Earth’s
environment, both, for calibrations and to support other studies. An additional benefit of the Flyby is to give
mission controllers the opportunity to practice operating the instruments and the spacecraft in general in
preparation for the science mission.
d- Quiet Cruise – 792 Days
The Quiet Cruise Phase begins 822 days after launch and has a duration of 791 days (2.2 years). It begins
after the Earth Flyby and associated science and simulation activities are complete and Juno is back at a
large distance to Earth entering nominal cruise operations again. During Quiet Cruise, there are no special
spacecraft events such as TCMs or significant science operations. Instrument Checkouts and data acquisition
as well as vehicle maintenance operations continue throughout the phase.

3-5- Jupiter Approach Phase

The last six months (178 days) of Cruise Operations are designated Jupiter Approach Phase. During this
period of the mission, Juno can make several
contingency TCMs should its trajectory require
additional fine-tuning. As the Spacecraft gets
close to Jupiter, all instruments undergo final
checkouts and calibrations and start early
observations of Jupiter’s distant environment.
Calibrations and data acquisition is needed to
validate instrument performance in the Jupiter
environment and to prepare the team for
successful instrument operation and for returning
baseline science data starting in Orbit 3. During the Approach Phase, the Deep Space Network increases
tracking operations to ensure that valid trajectory information is available to precisely target the Jupiter orbit
insertion burn.

3-6- Jupiter Orbit Insertion Phase

The JOI Phase begins four days ahead of the Orbit Insertion Burn with the initiation of the automated
sequence aboard the spacecraft running on commands that are sent to the vehicle several days and weeks in
advance. The phase ends one hour after the JOI Burn Ignition. JOI occurs on July 5, 2016 at 2:30 UTC
Spacecraft Time, 3:18 UTC Earth Receive Time. Jupiter
Orbit Insertion is performed at the close approach of the
trajectory, called perijove.
This point has to be targeted precisely and is planned to
be 4,200 Kilometers above the 1-bar level of the Gas
Planet. If Orbit insertion has occurred at a higher
altitude, a perigee lowering maneuver would have been
required to achieve the science orbit which would have

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negative consequences for the dV-Budget of the mission that was a major factor for Juno Spacecraft design.
Well before the burn, Juno makes a re-orientation maneuver to the correct attitude for the retrograde JOI
Burn. The attitude change takes place 30 minutes ahead of TIG (Time of Ignition) and points the High Gain
Antenna away from Earth so that during JOI, there can be no higher bandwidth communications with the
vehicle.
After the JOI Burn is complete, Juno uses its Reaction Control System to maneuver back to its nominal
attitude, pointing its High Gain Antenna towards Earth to enable a higher data rate exchange of information.
One our after JOI TIG, the mission switched to the Capture Orbit Phase.

3-7- Capture Orbits

The Jupiter Orbit Insertion Burn places Juno in a highly elliptical orbit around Jupiter with an inclination of
90 degrees (+/-10 degrees) and a period of 53.5 days. This mission design feature benefits the mission’s total
dV that decreases in the scenario of a pair of Capture Orbits being implemented into the mission. This also
eliminates the concern of making burns in excess of 60 minutes with the Leros main engine.

3-8- Science Phase & Jupiter Orbit Design

After the Capture Orbits and the PRM, Juno is in its
science orbit with a clean-up orbit (#3) starting on
November 2 following the Period and Perijove Reduction
Maneuvers in October. The first clean science orbit will
start on November 16, 2016 and the last on February 6,
2018 (#36, Extra Orbit).
Through Orbit 36, Juno performs science operations
before the planned End Of Mission occurs on orbit 37.
To enable Juno to perform its science operations in Jupiter Orbit with the harsh environments of the planet
and the large distance between it and the Sun, the orbit design had to fulfill several basic requirements:
 Avoid Jupiter’s strongest radiation belts
 Enable the Spacecraft to be bathed in sunlight at all times to produce sufficient amounts of electricity
with its solar arrays
 Allow the vehicle’s science instruments to come as close to Jupiter’s Cloud Tops as possible
 Maximize Science Pass Times
 Allow all instruments of Juno to cover every area of Jupiter at least once
 Provide the timing necessary to facilitate the different science modes and communications schedules
with the Deep Space Networks

Description of Juno Instrument Payloads

NASA’s Juno Spacecraft carries a science payload consisting of nine instrument packages to provide
unprecedented data on Jupiter’s magnetic environment, its gravitational field, the incredibly dense
atmosphere & cloud cover, the interior of the planet and Jupiter’s puzzling aurora.
Juno uses it instruments to look for clues about Jupiter’s formation which will allow scientists to infer details
on the solar system’s formation since Jupiter maintained its current state since the early stages of the solar
system. Also, the mission sets out to determine whether Jupiter has a solid core, find out how much water is
present within the planet’s dense atmosphere, & study winds that can reach more than 600 Kilometers per
hour. Juno is carrying the following scientific instruments that are explained in detail below:

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 1- Gravity Science – GS
To reveal the interior structure of Jupiter, Juno makes detailed measurements of the planet’s gravitational
field which will point to internal structures that are hidden by the planet’s dense atmosphere.
For the gravity experiment, the High Gain Antenna
needs to be pointed directly at Earth so that Ka-Band
Ranging Signals and X-Band Signals can be sent and
received. The Deep Space Network has only one
Station capable of providing Ka-Band uplink which
is Deep Space Station 25 at DSN Goldstone.

2- Magnetometer – MAG
The MAG instrument of Juno measures Jupiter’s magnetic field to create a detailed three-dimensional map
of the Gas Giant’s magnetic environment.
Juno uses a fluxgate magnetometer developed at NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center that is installed on
one of the three solar arrays of the spacecraft to move the instrument as far away from the spacecraft
platform to avoid false readings caused by Juno’s own magnetic emissions.

3- Microwave Radiometer – MWR

The MWR instrument will study the hidden structure beneath Jupiter’s cloud tops – capable of determining
on the structure, movement and chemical composition to a pressure of 1,000 atmospheres which corresponds
to a depth of 550 Kilometers below the cloud cover. The instrument will help determine the abundance on
Water and Ammonia in the Jovian atmosphere.

4- Jupiter Energetic Particle Detector Instrument – JEDI

The JEDI instrument will measure energetic particles and their interaction
with Jupiter’s magnetic field, investigating Jupiter’s polar space
environment with special focus on the physics of the intense Jovian
auroras. JEDI measures the energy, spectra, mass species (H, He, O, S),
and angular distributions of the higher energy charged particles. The JEDI
instrument weighs 6.4 Kilograms including 5 Kilograms of shielding
material.

5- Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment – JADE

The JADE experiment works with the JEDI and UVS instruments to
study the particles and processes that form Jupiter’s powerful auroras.
JADE features four deck-mounted sensor packages – three electron
analyzers with a field of view of 360 by 90 degrees and a single ion
mass spectrometer with a field of view of 270 by 90 degrees. The JADE
electronics box that contains all instrument electronics except pre-
amplifiers resides inside the electronics vault.

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 6- Radio and Plasma Wave Sensor – Waves
The Waves instrument measures radio and plasma waves in the Jovian
magnetosphere to help understand interactions between Jupiter’s
magnetic field, the magnetosphere and the atmosphere. It measures the
electric and magnetic field components of in-situ plasma waves and
freely propagating radio waves.

7- Ultraviolet Spectrograph
Juno’s Ultraviolet Spectrograph Payload, UVS for short, images and measures the spectrum of the Jovi an
aurora in the 70 to 205-nanometer range of the electromagnetic spectrum. UVS data will be used to
characterize and investigate the sources of Jupiter’s powerful auroras. The instrument consists of two
components – the dedicated optical assembly and the instrument electronics box that resides within the
radiation vault of the spacecraft.

8- Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper – JIRAM

The JIRAM instrument combines an infrared imager and spectrometer to
obtain high resolution images of Jupiter’s atmosphere and auroral display in
the 2 to 5 micrometer range. JIRAM data contributes to studies of the polar
aurora and atmospheric dynamics through complementary measurements
using the other instruments. The instrument’s optical head and electronics
are hosted on the instrument deck of the spacecraft. Overall, JIRAM weighs
about 8 Kilograms and has a peak power consumption of 16.7 Watts.

9- JunoCam
JunoCam is a visible spectrum camera to deliver full-color images of the
Jovian atmosphere at medium resolutions. The instrument will be used
for education and public outreach and scientific studies conducted by
students. The instrument was provided by Malin Space Science Systems
and is based on the Mars Descent Imager flown on the Curiosity rover.
JunoCam consists of two parts, both installed outside of the radiation
vault, the camera head that includes the optics assembly, detector, the
front-end detector electronics, and the JunoCam electronics box that houses the instrument electronics, the
image data buffer and power supplies.

Comments on Juno Spacecraft Subsystems

1- Propulsion Subsystem

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Juno utilizes a weight-saving and redundant approach to spacecraft propulsion with a bi-propellant main
propulsion system and a monopropellant Reaction Control System. The main propulsion system uses
Hydrazine as fuel and Nitrogen Tetroxide as oxidizer.
The propellant tanks are spherical in shape, surrounded by
multilayer insulation and heaters that are activated several weeks
before the burns occur to warm the propellants up to nominal
temperatures, also ensuring that the transfer lines and tanks do not
freeze in the space environment.
Juno is equipped with a single Leros 1b main engine. Leros 1b
provides 645 Newtons of thrust and a specific impulse of 318sec.
The engine is a coated Columbium Engine. It is fixed to the
vehicle and can not be gimbaled for vehicle control. The main
engine was manufactured by AMPAC-ISP in Westcott, UK.
A micrometeoroid and debris shield protects the engine when it is not in use. It is removed several days
before a burn and is placed back in position after the maneuvers to protect the engine bell. The main
propulsion system is only used for the Deep Space Maneuvers, the Jupiter Orbit Insertion Burn, the Period
Reduction Maneuver and major Trajectory Correction Maneuvers.
To control is orientation in space and make small trajectory corrections, Juno is outfitted with a total of 12
reaction control system thrusters. The RCS uses Hydrazine for catalytic propulsion. The thrusters are
installed on four engine modules and allow three-axis vehicle control. Three engines, one axial and two
lateral, are installed on a single module. Two modules are on the forward deck and one on the aft deck.The
REM towers are capable of providing medium delta-V and are sufficient for the Deorbit Burn of 75m/s.

2- Power Subsystem
The power generation system of Juno consists of three
solar array wings that are placed symmetrically around the
spacecraft bus. At Jupiter, Juno receives about 25 times
less Sunlight than we do on Earth. It is the first solar array-
powered spacecraft to go this deep into space. Juno
benefits from advances in solar cell design with modern
cells that are 50 percent more efficient and radiation-
tolerant than silicon cells available for space missions 20
years ago. Juno’s three solar arrays are 2.9 meters wide and
8.9 meters long, and consist of 11 individual solar panels –
one arrays features the Magnetometer Boom instead of an
eleventh solar panel. One of the three arrays is only 2.091 meters wide due to launch vehicle limitations.
With solar arrays deployed, Juno’s span is about 20 meters. Juno has a low, medium and high string of solar
arrays that are activated as the vehicle increases its distance to the sun. Juno can tolerate solar cell failures
which are expected when going through Jupiter’s radiation belts and failures have been calculated so that the
power system has a fairly large margin.
On average, the solar arrays produce about 460 to 490 watts of power when the vehicle arrives at Jupiter.
End of mission power is planned to be 420 watts. The individual solar arrays can be articulated by a small
amount in flight to control the vehicle’s center of gravity which is important to vehicle control and stability.
When making engine burns, Juno consumes fuel which changes the spacecraft’s mass properties which are
balanced out by adjusting the solar array position. Two 55 amp/hour lithium-ion batteries are used to store
electrical power that is used when the spacecraft is in eclipse or its solar arrays are off-sun. For the duration

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of its mission, except for 10 minutes of eclipse during the Earth Flyby, Juno will be in daylight. The
electrical power subsystem manages the vehicle’s power bus and distribution to payloads and instruments. A
central power distribution and drive unit monitors the power that is generated by the solar arrays, distributes
it to instruments, heaters and experiment sensors as well as batteries that are charged when excess power is
available.

3- Thermal Control System

Due to its mission design, being in daylight most of the time, Juno is not facing the sudden temperature
changes Low-Earth Orbiting satellites are experiencing when passing from day into night, but Juno is
venturing out into deep space where warming sun radiation is limited. The electronics vault of the vehicle is
insulated and has heaters and louvers to keep the electronics of the vehicle in a stable environment that meets
the requirements of all components inside the vault. The propulsion system also features passive and active
thermal control systems.
When being close to the Sun, Juno has to be protected from overheating. That is accomplished by pointing
the High-Gain Antenna at the Sun. The large HGA covers almost the entire spacecraft bus so that the
electronics vault and deck instruments are protected. Science instruments mounted on the outside of the
vault have individual thermal requirements that are met by different insulations and heater assemblies.

4- Communications System
Juno’s Communication System works as both, a science instrument and communication subsystem. The
High Gain Antenna of the spacecraft supports X-Band communications with Earth for command uplink and
science data & telemetry downlink. The subsystem also provides for dual-band (X- and Ka-band) Doppler
tracking for gravity science at Jupiter.

Communications with Juno are accomplished by NASA’s Deep Space Network Stations. Juno also has low
and medium gain communications system to provide continuous communications, even when the HGA is
not pointing towards Earth which is the case when being close to the sun and during maneuvers. Juno has a
fore medium gain antenna and a fore low gain antenna as well as an aft low gain antenna and a toroid LGA.
Via its low gain antennas, Juno sends Tone signals which are 10-second, extremely low bandwidth data
signals.

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MFSK tones, or semaphores, are basic vehicle status messages. There is a library of 256 tones that includes
such for the completion of major mission events. For successful completion of an event, one positive tone is
reserved and when an operation is not completed, the negative version is sent.
On Earth, these tones can be translated into vehicle statuses that enable engineers to follow the vehicle’s
progress without a direct telemetry link. Tones for Juno are available throughout Cruise, however is is not
expected that those will be used often. During Jupiter Orbit insertion, tones are the only available
communications opportunity since the HGA will not be pointing at Earth at that point.

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