Europa Clipper
NASA mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, to find out whether the ocean beneath its ice could support life; arrival at Jupiter is planned for April 2030.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Europa Clipper is the first mission designed to make a detailed study of Europa, one of Jupiter's moons.[1] Its main goal is to determine whether there are places below Europa's icy surface that could support life.[1] Scientists think a saltwater ocean lies beneath the ice, holding perhaps more than twice as much liquid water as all of Earth's oceans combined.[1]
The mission
Europa Clipper launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 14 October 2024.[1] It flew past Mars in 2025, and a flyby of Earth on 3 December 2026 is planned to give it a final push toward Jupiter.[1] The journey covers 2.9 billion km, with arrival at Jupiter planned for April 2030.[1]
Rather than orbiting Europa, the spacecraft is to orbit Jupiter and make 49 close flybys of the moon.[1] It carries nine science instruments and uses its radio system for a gravity experiment.[1]
The spacecraft
Europa Clipper runs on solar power. With its solar arrays deployed, it spans more than 30 m, about the length of a basketball court.[1] Its 3 m high-gain antenna sends its data back to Earth.[1]
Jupiter itself is the subject of NASA's Juno mission.
Milestones
- October 14, 2024Launch on Falcon Heavy
- March 1, 2025Mars gravity assist
- December 3, 2026Earth gravity assist
- April 2030 expectedArrives at Jupiter
Dates marked expected are agency estimates.
All missions and what each does nextSources
- [1]NASA, Europa Clipper — science.nasa.gov, retrieved October 26, 2026
Related
- JunoNASA's Jupiter orbiter, in orbit since July 2016, studying the planet's interior, atmosphere and magnetic field, and later its large moons.
- DragonflyNASA rotorcraft mission to Saturn's moon Titan, to fly between sites and study the chemistry that came before life; launch no earlier than July 2028.