Falcon Heavy successfully lifts off with NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

Falcon Heavy successfully lifts off with NASA's Europa Clipper mission.

A Falcon Heavy rocket launched on October 14 from the Kennedy Space Center, carrying NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft. Credit: Brandon Lindner.

**Falcon Heavy Launches NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission Successfully.**

**MILAN — The long-anticipated mission to explore whether one of Jupiter’s icy moons could support life is officially underway, following the launch of the Europa Clipper spacecraft aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket on October 14.**

The Falcon Heavy rocket lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at 12:06 p.m. Eastern Time. After completing two burns of its upper stage to achieve an Earth-escape trajectory, Europa Clipper separated from the stage a little over an hour post-launch. Minutes later, the spacecraft established contact with ground control, transmitting telemetry that confirmed it was in good condition.

Europa Clipper stands as one of NASA’s priciest scientific missions to date, with a projected total lifecycle cost of $5.2 billion, including four years of operations upon its arrival at Jupiter in 2030. It has been a priority in decadal surveys by planetary scientists, evolving from proposals for Europa orbiters or flybys that have been discussed for over two decades.

This mission aims to assess whether Europa, which is believed to have a subsurface ocean beneath its icy crust, might harbor life. The presence of liquid water, energy from the moon's interior, and organic compounds provides the essential ingredients for life.

However, the spacecraft's focus is not on searching for life directly; instead, it aims to evaluate whether the moon has the necessary conditions to sustain it. “We continue to emphasize that Europa Clipper is not a life-detection mission but a habitability investigation,” stated Gina DiBraccio, acting director of NASA’s planetary science division, during an October 13 briefing about the mission's objectives.

“We aim to determine if Europa possesses the key components to support life in its oceans,” said Robert Pappalardo, the Europa Clipper project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, at the same briefing.

The spacecraft is outfitted with nine specialized instruments along with a gravity and radio science experiment. These instruments, which include cameras, spectrometers, and magnetometers, will conduct studies of Europa and its interior during 49 flybys, providing “nearly complete coverage” of the moon.

The extensive array of instruments necessitated a large spacecraft, which weighed 5,700 kilograms fully fueled at launch. When its solar arrays are fully deployed, the spacecraft will measure 30.5 meters in length.

To protect it from the radiation produced by Jupiter’s intense magnetic field, the spacecraft is equipped with shielding. Despite this, there were initial concerns regarding the potential degradation of its transistors due to radiation exposure, which could have led to mission adjustments or delays. However, NASA determined in September that the transistors can withstand the baseline mission requirements.

In its early development stages, the mission faced challenges and increased costs, but it found a strong advocate in former Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas). His personal interest in the project, combined with his role as chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee responsible for NASA funding, helped secure support that often exceeded agency requests.

Culberson had initially advocated for launching Europa Clipper aboard NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), which would have allowed a direct journey to Jupiter in less than three years. However, in 2020, NASA cautioned against potential hardware compatibility issues with SLS, leading Congress to permit the solicitation of commercial launch bids. SpaceX's Falcon Heavy won the contract in 2021 for $178 million—a fraction of the cost of a single SLS launch.

Despite using all three booster cores on this mission, Falcon Heavy could not send Europa Clipper directly to Jupiter. Instead, the spacecraft will make a flyby of Mars early next year and an Earth flyby in late 2026, with an expected arrival at Jupiter in April 2030.

For scientists involved, the anticipated scientific returns make the wait worthwhile. “I’ve dreamed of returning to Europa since the Galileo era, so for about 25 years now,” said Cynthia Phillips, Europa Clipper project staff scientist at JPL, during the briefing. “I’ve been actively involved in the Europa Clipper project for nearly 10 years, and I’m eager to finally capture some new close-up images of Europa's surface. I know I need to be patient for another six years.”