S. Korea's radio telescopes to help track Europe's Jupiter probe in search for life

South Korea's advanced radio astronomy technology will be deployed in Europe's mission to explore Jupiter's icy moons and determine whether they could harbor life.

The Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute announced Tuesday that it has signed an MOU with the Joint Institute for VLBI ERIC (JIVE) to support precise tracking of the European Space Agency's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, known as JUICE.

Under the agreement, the institute will use the Korean VLBI Network, or KVN, to precisely measure the spacecraft's position and movement. The deal marks the first time South Korea's radio astronomy technology will be formally applied beyond celestial observation — to the navigation and tracking of a deep-space probe.

JUICE is an ESA spacecraft launched in April 2023 to explore Jupiter's icy moons. It is designed to study Ganymede, Callisto and Europa, investigating whether liquid oceans exist beneath their ice layers and whether conditions capable of supporting life are present.

The institute's core role in the mission centers on the Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiment, or PRIDE. The technique uses ground-based radio telescopes to receive signals transmitted by the spacecraft and precisely determine its position and trajectory.

The method relies on very long baseline interferometry, or VLBI, technology. Multiple radio telescopes positioned far apart simultaneously receive the same radio signal, and by analyzing minute differences in arrival times, scientists can pinpoint the spacecraft's location deep in space.

The institute will use the KVN to receive and track JUICE's radio signals, conduct VLBI observations and transmit observational data. JIVE, the central research body of the European VLBI Network, will coordinate observation schedules, technical requirements and data transmission protocols.

The two institutions have been working toward this collaboration since 2021, when JIVE approached the KVN team — which had previously participated in tracking NASA's Juno Jupiter probe — and invited it to join the JUICE mission.

With the MOU now in place, the institute plans to join VLBI tracking observations of JUICE in the second half of this year. It will also participate as an official partner in the PRIDE-JUICE project, using the observational data it acquires for joint research and academic publications.

The two sides plan to expand future cooperation to include near-field VLBI technology, spacecraft tracking, space and planetary science research, technology development and personnel exchanges.

"This agreement is significant because it extends the KVN's role — which has primarily been used for celestial observation — into the field of deep-space exploration," institute President Park Jang-hyeon said. "We expect it to strengthen the technological foundation that will allow us to participate in a variety of international deep-space missions going forward."