Europa Clipper's Trajectory to Jupiter

On its journey to the Jupiter system, NASA's Europa Clipper will take a path that swings past Mars, then Earth, using the gravity of each planet as a slingshot to boost the spacecraft's speed. All told, the journey will take about 5½ years, covering a distance of about 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers). In this diagram, the orbits of Jupiter, Mars, and Earth are shown as concentric rings. Europa Clipper's launch period begins on Oct. 10, 2024. If the spacecraft launches on a later date, the timing of its Mars and Earth gravity assist maneuvers will shift. For all liftoff dates within the launch period, however, the spacecraft is scheduled to begin orbiting Jupiter on April 11, 2030. Then it will begin its investigation of the gas giant's icy moon Europa.

Europa Clipper's three main science objectives are to determine the thickness of the moon's icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission's detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.

Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with APL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. APL designed the main spacecraft body in collaboration with JPL and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.

NASA's Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy, manages the launch service for the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy.