The 2,223 kg Galileo orbiter spacecraft carries 10 scientific instruments; there are another six on the 339 kg probe that it also carries. The spacecraft radio link to Earth and the probe-to-orbiter radio link serve as instruments for extra scientific investigations. To learn more about Galileo's cameras and to see a picture Galileo took, click here.

The spacecraft was built in three segments which each focus on specific areas of research.
1) the spinning main section of the orbiter spacecraft which includes the fields and particles instruments, designed to sense and measure the environment directly as the spacecraft flies through it.
2) a non-spinning section of the orbiter carrying cameras and other remote sensors.
3) the atmospheric probe.