EUROPA CLIPPER LAUNCH, Oct 14, 2024, KSC, 12:06 pm ET (NASA+ begins 11:00 am ET)

Update, October 13:  NASA has a website with a link to the webcast and a list of launch-related events.

Update, October 12, 9:45 pm ET: NASA has issued a new press release with updated information confirming launch is scheduled for October 14, 2024 at 12:06 pm ET.  NASA coverage in English begins at 11:00 am ET on NASA+ and in Spanish on NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel.

Update, October 11, 10:05 pm ET:  NASA has decided to wait another day, to October 14. NASA didn’t mention the launch time, but others say it’s 12:06 pm ET.

????LAUNCH UPDATE!
NASA’s #EuropaClipper is now targeting NET Monday, Oct. 14 for launch!@NASAKennedy is “all clear” after the storm and teams are moving forward with preparations for the mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

????https://t.co/R0811CeVyR pic.twitter.com/vIWhSbWz4l

— NASA’s Launch Services Program (@NASA_LSP) October 12, 2024

Update, October 11:  NASA is targeting Sunday, October 13, at 12:12 pm ET for the Europa Clipper launch, but it is tentative.  According to an October 11 NASA media advisory, a post-launch telecon would take place at 12:30 pm ET.

Update, October 6:  The launch has been postponed because of Hurricane Milton. A new date is pending.

????Launch Update!

.@NASA and @SpaceX are standing down from the Oct. 10, launch attempt of the agency’s @EuropaClipper mission due to anticipated hurricane conditions in the area.

Once the storm passes, recovery teams will assess the safety of the spaceport and the launch… pic.twitter.com/wl3VUyrmZv

— NASA’s Launch Services Program (@NASA_LSP) October 6, 2024

Update, October 3:  NASA is proceeding with plans to launch Europa Clipper on October 10, 2024 at 12:31 pm ET, the opening of the launch window.

NASA launch coverage will begin at 11:30 pm ET on  NASA+ and the agency’s website in English and  NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel.

A science briefing is scheduled for October 8, and a social panel and pre-launch briefing on October 9. See our separate entries for more information.

Update, September 17:  The launch window originally was open until October 30, but has been extended to November 6. They are still targeting October 10 for the launch, however. The launch window each day is instantaneous — either it launches at the prescibed time or it doesn’t. If the launch is scrubbed before the rocket is fueled, they can try again the next day. If it has been fueled, it’s a 48-hour turnaround.  The launch time on October 10 is 12:31 pm ET.

Original Entry: NASA plans to launch the Europa Clipper mission to Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, during a 21-day launch window that opens on October 10, 2024. It will launch from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Clipper will reach Jupiter in 2030 and go into orbit around the planet, swinging by Europa as many as 50 times to conduct detailed studies. Scientists believe a liquid ocean flows beneath Europa’s icy crust and where there’s water, there’s a possibiluty microbial life may exist. While they cannot study the ocean directly, they believe geysers of liquid are occasionally spewed above the surface, leaving residue. The spacecraft will get as close as 25 kilometers (16 miles) to the surface during its swingbys and take readings with its nine instruments and, perhaps, fly through a geyser if the opportunity arises.

Jupiter has a lot of moons. The four largest — Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa — were discovered by Galileo in 1610 and are called the Galilean moons. Better telescopes and spacecraft visiting Jupiter have discovered many, many more — 95 at last count.

Four NASA spacecraft were the first to fly past Jupiter in the 1970s: Pioneer 10 and 11, and Voyager 1 and 2.

The first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter was NASA’s Galileo. Launched in 1989, it arrived at Jupiter in 1995 and studied the planet and its moons for 8 years until it was commanded to enter the Jovian atmosphere where it was destroyed so it would not pose a hazard to future spacecraft.

NASA’s Juno spacecraft, launched in 2011, has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016 with a different view — around the poles instead of the equator.

Only NASA spacecraft have visited Jupiter so far, but the European Space Agency launched the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) in April 2023.  JUICE’s main target is Ganymede, but it will also collect data about Europa and Callisto. Although it launched more than a year before Clipper is scheduled to launch, it won’t reach Jupiter until 2031 because it is taking a different trajectory.