The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is an ESA-led L-class mission of the ESA’s Cosmic Vision 2015-25 Programme. JUICE is aimed at a thorough investigation of the Jupiter system in all its complexity with emphasis on Galilean satellites, and in particular the potential habitability of the two icy moons, Ganymede and Europa. A large international community of scientists eagerly await the data of the JUICE spacecraft and of its on-board instruments. The mission must be orchestrated flawlessly to ensure that the mission fulfills its expectations, while balancing risks and cost. This is the task of the ESA Ground Segment. We present in this paper the organisation, development and tasks carried out by the Ground Segment of the JUICE mission, from the translation of the scientific questions into a science operation plan that can be executed by the spacecraft and its instruments, to the chain of data acquisition, processing, delivery to the public and archiving for the generations to come. We focus this paper specifically on a description the ESA component of the Ground Segment, while empathising the crucial collaboration with the instrument teams.
Altobelli et al. (Sun,) studied this question.