The interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is expected to arrive at a distance of 53.56(±0.45) million km (0.358±0.003~au) from Jupiter on March 16, 2026. We show that applying a total thrust ΔV of 2.6755kms−1 to lower perijove on September 9, 2025 and then execute a Jupiter Oberth Maneuver, can bring the Juno spacecraft from its orbit around Jupiter to intercept the path of 3I/ATLAS on March 14, 2026. We further show that it is possible for Juno to come much closer to 3I/ATLAS (∼27 million km) with 110 kg of remaining propellant, merely 5.4% of the initial fuel reservoir. We find that for low available ΔV there is no particular benefit in application of a double impulse (for example to reach ∼27 million km from 3I/ATLAS), however if Juno has a higher ΔV capability there is significant advantage to a second impulse with typically a saving of propellant by a factor of a half. A close fly-by might be able to probe the nature of 3I/ATLAS far better than telescopes on Earth.
@article{arxiv.2507.21402,
title = {Intercepting 3I/ATLAS at Closest Approach to Jupiter with the Juno spacecraft},
author = {Abraham Loeb and Adam Hibberd and Adam Crowl},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.21402},
year = {2025}
}