A small group of children live on Io, one of Jupiter's moons, where their parents operate a research and mining outpost. When one of Io's volcanoes explodes, the outpost begins to break apart, and the group must flee. Finding a derelict space station in orbit around Jupiter, they convert it into a workable spaceship and begin the slow and dangerous journey back to Earth.
The program was followed by a sequel, Return to Jupiter. Escape from Jupiter was never released in its entirety on either VHS or DVD, but a two-hour 'film version' was released.