Ganymede (moon) and possibly a JAXA-led Jupiter Magnetospheric Orbiter. ESA's contribution faced funding competition from other ESA projects, but on 2 May 2012 the European part of the mission, renamed Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE), obtained a L1 launch slot in 2022 with an Ariane 5 in the ESA's Cosmic Vision science programme. The spacecraft will orbit Ganymede and conduct multiple flyby investigations of Callisto and Europa. The Russian Space Research Institute is currently evaluating the Ganymede Lander (GL) mission, with emphasis on astrobiology. The Ganymede Lander would be a partner mission for JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE). If selected, it would
Orbit of the Moon its diameter, or about half a degree on the celestial sphere, each hour. The Moon differs from most satellites of other planets in that its orbit is close to the ecliptic plane instead of that of its primary (in this case, Earth's equatorial plane). The Moon's orbital plane is inclined by about 5.1° with respect to the ecliptic plane, whereas the Moon's equatorial plane is tilted by only 1.5°. The properties of the orbit described in this section are approximations. The Moon's orbit around Earth has many irregularities (perturbations), the study of which (lunar theory) has a long history. The