Europa Clipper

Mission Profile

Prime Contractors

Companies that built, launched, or operate this mission. Tickers link to their investor profile.

• NASA JPL
• Johns Hopkins APL
• SpaceX

Overview

Europa Clipper is NASA's flagship-class mission to investigate whether Jupiter's icy moon Europa could harbor conditions suitable for life. Launched on a Falcon Heavy from Kennedy Space Center on 14 October 2024, the spacecraft is on a Mars-Earth gravity-assist trajectory to Jupiter, with Jupiter Orbit Insertion targeted for April 2030. After arrival, Clipper will execute roughly 49 close flybys of Europa over a four-year primary mission, dipping as low as 25 km above the moon's surface to map its ice shell, characterize the subsurface ocean believed to lie beneath, and search for active plumes. The 6-tonne spacecraft is the largest planetary probe NASA has ever flown, dominated by enormous solar arrays roughly 30 m tip-to-tip — necessary because Jupiter receives only 1/25 the sunlight Earth does. Its instrument suite includes ice-penetrating radar (REASON), high-resolution cameras (EIS), thermal imaging (E-THEMIS), magnetometer (ECM), mass spectrometer (MASPEX), and dust analyzer (SUDA). Europa Clipper is intentionally not a life-detection mission, but rather a habitability assessment — it is designed to determine whether Europa has the three ingredients believed necessary for life: water, energy, and chemistry. Project cost is approximately $5.2B life-cycle.

Key Milestones

1. 2015-05-26

   NASA confirms Europa Clipper as a flagship mission

2. 2019-08-19

   Clipper passes Key Decision Point-C (final design)

3. 2024-10-14

   Launch on Falcon Heavy from KSC LC-39A

4. 2025-03-01

   Mars gravity-assist flyby

5. 2026-12-03

   Earth gravity-assist flyby (planned)

6. 2030-04-11

   Jupiter Orbit Insertion (planned)

Related Missions

Sources

1. NASA — Europa Clipper
2. NASA JPL — Mission Press Kit