Artist's view of the New Horizons probe near Pluto - The New Horizons spacecraft near...

Artist's view of the New Horizons probe near Pluto - The New Horizons spacecraft near Pluto - Artist's view of the New Horizons probe near Pluto and its largest satellite Charon. The New Horizons probe was launched on 19 January 2006 to Jupiter, then Pluto and Charon, which it reached in 2015 and Kuiper's objects in 2020. Artist's concept of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, in July 2015. The craft's miniature cameras, radio science experiment, ultraviolet and infrared spectrometers and space plasma experiments will characterize the global geology and geomorphology of Pluto and Charon, map their surface compositions and temperatures, and examine Pluto's atmosphere in detail. The spacecraft's most prominent design feature is a nearly 7 - foot (2.1 - meter) dish antenna, through which it will communicate with Earth from as far as 4.7 billion miles (7.5 billion kilometers) away