A European spacecraft has launched and is on its first leg of the journey to Jupiter in a mission to explore whether its ocean-bearing moons can support life.The six-tonne probe, named Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), blasted off on an Ariane 5 rocket on Friday at 1.14pm UK time from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.Juice was due to take off on Thursday but weather conditions showed there was a risk of lightning, temporarily pausing what would have been the agency's first attem

A European spacecraft has launched and is on its first leg of the journey to Jupiter in a mission to explore whether its ocean-bearing moons can support life.The six-tonne probe, named Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), blasted off on an Ariane 5 rocket on Friday at 1.14pm UK time from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.Juice was due to take off on Thursday but weather conditions showed there was a risk of lightning, temporarily pausing what would have been the agency's first attempt to send a spacecraft to orbit another planet's moon.It will need to separate from the rocket before beginning a 4.1 billion-mile journey which will take more than eight years.Onboard are 10 scientific instruments, which will investigate whether the gas giant's three moons - Callisto, Europa and Ganymede - can support life in its oceans.