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Europa Clipper Compared to a Basketall Court

An illustration shows the scale of the Europa Clipper spacecraft by superimposing it on a standard basketball court. The spacecraft appears to hover over the surface of the court while spectators look on. The spacecraft, with its metallic main body at the center and its two solar array wings stretched out on either side, is about the same length as the court.

Source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Published: May 21, 2024

With its solar arrays deployed, Europa Clipper spans more than 100 feet (about 30.5 meters) – about the length of a basketball court.

Europa Clipper will be the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission. It needs large solar arrays to collect enough light for its power needs as it operates in the Jupiter system, which is more than five times as far from the Sun as Earth. The spacecraft will be about 16 feet (5 meters) in height, and has a dry mass (no propellant in the tanks) of 7,145 pounds (3,241 kg).