The European Space Agency’s mission to Jupiter and its moons has been postponed due to adverse weather conditions.
The six-tonne probe, named Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), was due to head towards the solar system’s biggest planet to see if its ocean-bearing moons support life.
But a lightning risk temporarily halted what would have been the agency’s first attempt to send spacecraft to orbit another planet’s moon.
Arianespace, which developed the Ariane 5 rocket carrying Juice, said on Twitter that the next attempt will take place on April 14 at 1.14pm UK time.
They said: “The Ariane 5 launch vehicle and its passenger Juice are in stable and safe condition.”
Josef Aschbacher, director general of the European Space Agency, tweeted: “Not what we hoped for, but this is part of the game.
“Hopefully tomorrow we have clearer skies.”
After lift-off, Juice is expected to separate from the rocket about half an hour later, and embark on a 4.1 billion-mile journey that will take more than eight years.
Juice has 10 instruments on board, which will investigate whether the gas giant’s three moons Callisto, Europa and Ganymede, can support life in its oceans.
Scientists from Imperial College London have led the development of one instrument, known as the magnetometer.
Called J-MAG, it will measure the characteristics of magnetic fields of Jupiter and Ganymede – the only moon known to produce its own magnetic field.
