NASA on Friday launched its latest robotic explorer Juno, which is heading towards the solar system’s largest planet- Jupiter.

Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the 4-ton Juno will explore Jupiter to let scientists learn more about how the solar system was formed.

Juno will consume five years to cover 1.7 billion miles to reach Jupiter. Then, it will orbit Jupiter’s poles 33 times, capturing still images and mapping the massive planet's magnetic field. It will also try to look beneath the planet’s turbulent atmosphere to investigate its possible solid core.

Speaking on the mission, Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton said, “The special thing about Juno is we're really looking at one of the first steps, the earliest time in our solar system's history.”

Juno has three enormous solar panels, which will provide the spacecraft with necessary power until the end of the mission.

The solar panels extend outward to give the spacecraft a span of more than 66 feet. These panels will always be in sunlight, except for a few minutes when the Earth will flyby.

In case everything goes well, Juno will start orbiting Jupiter’s poles on July 4, 2016.