Video: Juno’s countdown to Jupiter

NASA’s robotic Juno spacecraft wil spend another three years probing the inside of Jupiter, giving the mission more time to meet its primary science objectives after concerns over the health of the probe’s engine prevented it from dropping into a lower, shorter orbit around the solar system’s biggest planet.

One of the largest satellites in the world will launch aboard America’s biggest operational booster Thursday, riding that power to a listening post 22,300 miles above the planet for its clandestine eavesdropping mission, all indications suggest.

United Launch Alliance, a union of Atlas and Delta rockets formed a decade ago for U.S. government spacelift needs, will conduct its 25th deployment mission for the country’s spy satellite agency Thursday night.