NASA and SpaceX have launched NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Falcon Heavy launched during an instantaneous launch window on Monday, Oct. 14, at 12:05 PM EDT (16:05 UTC) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. If Monday’s attempt was scrubbed, a backup launch opportunity was available for Tuesday, Oct. 15, as well as throughout the rest of October, but these attempts were not needed.
Europa Clipper is perhaps the most important planetary science mission launching this decade. One of NASA’s large strategic science missions (also known as a flagship mission), Europa Clipper will be the largest planetary science mission ever developed by NASA and the first mission to perform an in-depth investigation of Europa and its potential habitability.