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NASA’s Europa Clipper will begin its journey to Jupiter’s icy moon aboard a SpaceX-built Falcon Heavy rocket. NASA will pay SpaceX $ 178 million to launch the vehicle in October 2024.
The Europa Clipper got the green light from NASA in 2015. It will fly over the Moon 45 times, giving researchers a tantalizing look at the frozen world, which is said to have an ocean hidden beneath its icy crust. The Clipper is equipped with instruments that will help scientists determine if the moon could support life.
For years, the Clipper was legally required to launch onto NASA’s long-delayed Space Launch System (SLS). But with the SLS perpetually delayed and running over budget, NASA urged Congress to consider allowing the Europa Clipper to fly commercially. Switching to another vehicle could save up to $ 1 billion, NASA’s Inspector General said in 2019.
NASA was granted permission to consider commercial alternatives to SLS in Budget 2021 and officially began looking for a commercial alternative shortly thereafter.
The SLS has strong allies in Congress who have kept the expensive program alive for years, even as it blew past budgets and deadlines. The first flight of the SLS was originally scheduled to take place in 2017. This mission – to launch an unmanned trip around the Moon – has since been postponed to November 2021, and adherence to this new schedule remains “highly unlikely” according to the office. NASA inspector. General, a watchdog agency.
SpaceX first launched its Falcon Heavy rocket in 2018 and began flying satellites in 2019. Earlier this year, NASA selected the rocket as the path to space for two parts of a planned space station in orbit around the moon.
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