Europa Clipper will travel approximately 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers) on a trajectory that uses gravity assists.
Ground controllers established two-way communication with Europa Clipper via NASA’s Deep Space Network facility in Canberra, Australia at 1:13 p.m. EDT on 2024-10-14.
Europa Clipper will perform a gravity-assist flyby of Earth in December 2026.
Europa Clipper will perform a gravity-assist flyby of Mars in February 2025.
The Falcon Heavy first-stage boosters supporting the Europa Clipper launch flew their sixth and final mission on 2024-10-14 after previously launching NASA’s Psyche, USSF-44, USSF-52, USSF-67, and Hughes JUPITER 3.
The Europa Clipper satellite is scheduled to launch soon at a cost of $5 billion.
Polaris Dawn needed to launch by the end of the week or face further delays likely to no earlier than October so SpaceX could prepare LC-39A for the 2024-10-10 launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper on a Falcon Heavy.
Europa Clipper will make a series of dozens of flybys of the icy moon Europa over four years after arriving at Jupiter in 2030, and no mission changes are planned.
Europa Clipper has an estimated total lifecycle cost of about $5,200,000,000.
Radiation damage takes place during one day of Europa Clipper's 21-day orbit of Jupiter, and the remainder of the orbit provides time for self-annealing to repair damage.
Europa Clipper will perform flybys of Mars and Earth before entering orbit around Jupiter in 2030.
Key Decision Point E, the NASA review to determine if Europa Clipper can proceed into final launch preparations, is planned for 2024-09-09.
Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy during a three-week window that opens 2024-10-10.
On 2024-08-28, NASA completed testing of transistors used in the Europa Clipper spacecraft power supply system.
Europa Clipper is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy during a three-week window that opens 2024-10-10.
Both NISAR and Europa Clipper missions are on schedule for launches in spring and October respectively.
Several missions led by JPL, including Psyche, NISAR, and Europa Clipper, have either launched or are nearing completion, reducing near-term growth needs at the laboratory.
Europa Clipper remains on track for an October 2024 launch as it completes system-level testing.
NASA's planetary science division identified completing Europa Clipper and launching it in October 2024 as its top priority.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft is scheduled to launch in 2024.