[P-PS01] Outer Solar System Exploration Today, and Tomorrow

[PPS01-14] Radio and Plasma Wave Instruments (RPWI) aboard ESA JUICE: from the Launch (2023), via the Lunar-Earth flyby (2024), toward Venus (2025)

*Yasumasa Kasaba¹, Baptiste Cecconi², Fuminori Tsuchiya¹, Hiroaki Misawa¹, Hajime Kita³, Rikuto Yasuda¹, Yuto Katoh¹, Atsushi Kumamoto¹, Tomoki Kimura¹, Yoshizumi Miyoshi⁴, Yoshiya Kasahara⁵, Shoya Matsuda⁵, Satoshi Yagitani⁶, Mitsunori Ozaki⁵, Hirotsugu Kojima⁶, Satoshi Kurita⁶, Jan-Erik Wahlund⁷, JUICE RPWI (1.Tohoku University, 2.Obs de Paris, 3.Tohoku Institute of Technology, 4.Nagoya University, 5.Kanazawa University, 6.Kyoto University, 7.IRF Uppsala)

Keywords:Jupiter, icy moons, JUICE, RPWI

This talk provides initial results of Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI) aboard JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), from the view for its high frequency radio observation capability in 80k – 45MHz provided from RPWI Japan team.

After the launch on April 14, 2023, the Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI) onboard the ESA JUICE mission did the deployment of our antennas. Although it had to wait due to a problem with the RIME antenna, all deployments were successfully completed during JpGU 2023. However, immediately after that, we started the life struggling with the the spacecraft noise. As a result, new onboard software with the noise reduction function was uploaded in January 2024, and the spacecraft was going to the Lunar-Earth Gravity Assist (LEGA) operation in August 2024. It was the unique opportunity to observe "an airless body" before real icy moons flybys n 2030s. Next flybys are Venus (August 2025), Earth I (September 2026), and Earth II (January 2029). Arrival to Jupiter will be in July 2031.

This talk reviews the activities of the JUICE RPWI Japan team in 2023-2025, focusing on the verification of the basic functions of RPWI. We also summarize the plans with the proved performances for Jupiter and icy moons in 2030s.

The topics of talk will appear in Kasaba et al. (2025) [Yu-Sei-Jin 34, https://www.wakusei.jp/book/pp/Contents_34.html].
Spec and sciences of RPWI is in Wahlund et al. (2025) [Space Sci. Review - https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-024-01110-0].