The Quest for Conductivity - Surface Charging Control for the Juice Mission

Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) is the first European space mission for the exploration of the Jupiter system including the Galilean moons Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. In order to enable maximum science return of the in-situ electric field and particle measurement instruments, the control of surface charging of the spacecraft in the Jovian plasma environment plays an essential role. In this paper, the various challenges and design choices that have been made for the sake of surface charging control of the JUICE satellite are described. The results of detailed 3D charging simulations performed for the final verification of the impact on the concerned experiments are presented and discussed.