The second attempt to launch the "Ariane 5" rocket carrying the European space probe "JOS" on a mission to Jupiter and its frozen moons, in search of environments suitable for living outside Earth, succeeded.

The missile was launched from Kourou Air Base in French Guiana at 12:14 GMT, 24 hours after the mission was postponed due to bad weather.

The six-ton "Joss" probe separated from the rocket, according to the plan, about half an hour after take-off, at an altitude of approximately 1,500 km.

The teams at the launch site reported that the missile's trajectory after take-off was identical to what was expected.

The launch marks the beginning of an eight-year mission within the Jupiter Icy Moons explorer program, a major mission of the European Space Agency.

The mission explores Jupiter and its icy moons for habitable environments beyond Earth. But it will not reach its destination before 2031, at a distance of more than 620 million km from Earth.