Europa Clipper
Artist's rendering of the Europa Clipper spacecraft | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Names | Europa Multiple Flyby Mission | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission type | Europa reconnaissance | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Operator | NASA | ||||||||||||||||||||
| COSPAR ID | 2024-182A | ||||||||||||||||||||
| SATCAT no. | 61507 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | europa | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Mission duration | Cruise: 5.5 years Science phase: 4 years Elapsed: 8 months, 6 days | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Spacecraft properties | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Manufacturer | Jet Propulsion Laboratory | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch mass | 6,065 kg (13,371 lb), including 2,750 kg (6,060 lb) propellant | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dry mass | 3,241 kg (7,145 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Payload mass | 352 kg (776 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions | Height: 6 m (20 ft) Solar panel span: 22 m (72 ft) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Power | 600 watts from solar panels | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Start of mission | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch date | October 14, 2024, 16:06:00 UTC (12:06 p.m. EDT) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Rocket | Falcon Heavy Block 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Launch site | Kennedy, LC-39A | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Contractor | SpaceX | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of Mars (gravity assist) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | March 1, 2025, 17:57 UTC (12:57 p.m. EST) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 884 km (549 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Flyby of Earth (gravity assist) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Closest approach | December 3, 2026 4:15 PM EST | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Jupiter orbiter | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbital insertion | April 11, 2030 (first closest approach to Europa) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Orbits | 49 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Europa Clipper mission patch Large Strategic Science Missions Planetary Science Division | |||||||||||||||||||||
Europa Clipper (previously known as Europa Multiple Flyby Mission) is a space probe developed by NASA to study Europa, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. It was launched on October 14, 2024. The spacecraft used a gravity assist from Mars on March 1, 2025, and it will use a gravity assist from Earth on December 3, 2026, before arriving at Europa in April 2030. The spacecraft will then perform a series of flybys of Europa while orbiting Jupiter.
Europa Clipper is designed to study evidence for a subsurface ocean underneath Europa's ice crust, found by the Galileo spacecraft which orbited Jupiter from 1995 to 2003. Plans to send a spacecraft to Europa were conceived with projects such as Europa Orbiter and Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter, in which a spacecraft would be inserted into orbit around Europa. However, due to the effects of radiation from the magnetosphere of Jupiter in Europa orbit, it was decided that it would be safer to insert a spacecraft into an elliptical orbit around Jupiter and make 49 close flybys of the moon instead. The Europa Clipper spacecraft is larger than any previous spacecraft for NASA planetary missions.
The orbiter will analyze the induced magnetic field around Europa, and attempt to detect plumes of water ejecta from a subsurface ocean; in addition to various other tests.
The mission's name is a reference to the lightweight, fast clipper ships of the 19th century that routinely plied trade routes, since the spacecraft will pass by Europa at a rapid cadence, as frequently as every two weeks. The mission patch, which depicts a sailing ship, references the moniker.
Europa Clipper complements the ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, launched in 2023, which will attempt to fly past Europa twice and Callisto multiple times before moving into orbit around Ganymede.