Europa Clipper

Europa Clipper launched on October 14, 2024, aboard a Falcon Heavy, beginning a five-and-a-half-year cruise to the most promising place in the solar system to look for life beyond Earth: Jupiter’s moon Europa, whose icy shell hides a saltwater ocean holding twice the water of all Earth’s seas combined.

The largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission — its solar arrays span more than 100 feet — Clipper will not orbit Europa itself but will dive past it nearly 50 times from Jupiter orbit, dodging the worst of the radiation while ice-penetrating radar, spectrometers, and cameras probe the shell, the ocean beneath, and any plumes venting into space. Arrival at Jupiter is set for 2030.