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What time will SpaceX launch NASA’s Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s icy moon today (and how to watch it online)?

Eira Gwyneth October 14, 2024

Watch Live! SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Europa Clipper – YouTube

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NASA’s first mission to another ocean world in our solar system launches today (October 14) towards Jupiter. However, if you want to watch them live, you need to know when to tune in.

Europa Clipper, a $5 billion NASA mission to explore the salty ocean beneath the ice of Jupiter’s moon Europa, will launch Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The start is imminent 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 GMT) from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida.

“Clipper is the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to exploring an ocean world beyond Earth,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told reporters in a briefing Sunday evening (Oct. 13). Europe has long been on scientists’ shortlist of the most promising places that could harbor life beyond Earth. According to Free, the Europa Clipper probe is intended to find out how habitable the icy moon really is. Here you can find out when and how you can follow the launch of the Europa Clipper mission online.

What time does the Europa Clipper start?

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy three-launch launch vehicle carrying NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on the launch pad.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with two experienced side boosters stands on its launch pad Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of the scheduled launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on October 14, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX/NASA/JPL)

NASA currently has its sights set on the target Monday, October 14th, at 12:06 p.m. EDT (1606 GMT) to launch the Europa Clipper mission with a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission will have a 15-second liftoff window, with SpaceX aiming for the end of that opportunity. The probability that there will be good weather at the start time is 95%.

SpaceX originally planned to launch the Europa Clipper on October 10, but postponed the flight due to the approach of Hurricane Milton, which swept across Florida in the days leading up to this launch attempt, leaving millions of people across the state without power. The storm damaged some parts of the Kennedy Space Center, but the center opened a few days later to continue launch preparations for the Europa Clipper.

“The SpaceX and NASA teams have done a great job ensuring the safety of the hardware,” Free said in the briefing, adding that his condolences go out to everyone affected by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, which preceded it .

Can I watch the launch of Europa Clipper online?

Watch Live! SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches NASA’s Europa Clipper – YouTube

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Yes, you can watch the launch of Europa Clipper online. In fact, you have several options for where you want to tune in.

NASA will offer a free English-language webcast of the launch starting at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on its NASA+ streaming service and on its NASA YouTube page. Spacec.com will simultaneously broadcast this livestream on our VideoFromSpace YouTube channel, as well as on our homepage and at the top of this page.

NASA will also offer an alternative Spanish-language feed on NASA+ to document the mission.

SpaceX, meanwhile, may offer its own livestream of the Europa Clipper launch atop its Falcon Heavy rocket via its X page, although the company is currently directing viewers to NASA’s livestream.

How long does the Europa Clipper mission last?

NASA’s Europa Clipper is currently expected to last nearly ten years from start to finish, with the first 5.5 years spent traveling to Jupiter and Europa, a journey of 1.8 billion miles (2.9 billion kilometers). However, the launch was expected to take just over an hour from launch to spacecraft deployment, followed by a six-hour solar array deployment process.

If all goes well, Europa Clipper will fly past Mars in March 2025 and then Earth in December 2026 to get gravity boosts from each planet. These encounters will put the probe on track to reach Jupiter on April 11, 2030. The mission will be monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Once the spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, it will conduct a series of close flybys of Europa over the next four years to study the moon’s icy ocean using an array of nine different instruments and one experiment, all aimed at studying the saltwater ocean beneath to understand the surface of the moon. A radar will study the depths of this ocean, while other instruments will measure the plumes of water discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope on Europa. And of course there are the camera images Clipper will take of Europa, NASA officials said.

The large Europa Clipper spaceship with a round antenna, with a man looking up at it, and a huge rocket nose cone in the background.

The Europa Clipper spacecraft before being packed onto its Falcon Heavy rocket for flight. (Image credit: SpaceX)

“Although we won’t be looking for other life, Europe could have the ingredients for life as we know it: water, organic matter, chemical energy and stability,” Free said. “What we discover on Europa will have profound implications for the study of astrobiology and how we view our place in this universe.”

While its primary mission is scheduled to end in June 2034, it is possible NASA could extend the Europa Clipper mission beyond this year, depending on the spacecraft’s health.

Below is a look at the launch countdown and deployment schedule for Europa Clipper with its Falcon Heavy rocket. Unlike previous Falcon Heavy launches, SpaceX will not attempt to recover the first stage or side boosters on this flight in order to squeeze as much power out of the boosters as possible. With its deployed solar arrays, Europa Clipper is the size of a tennis court, making it NASA’s largest planetary probe to date, according to SpaceX.

“Falcon Heavy gives Europa Clipper its best shot, sending the spacecraft to the farthest destination it has ever been sent. This means the mission requires maximum power, so we will not recover the boosters tomorrow,” Julianna Scheiman, NASA science director for SpaceX missions at SpaceX, told reporters on Sunday. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better mission to devote boosters to because we might have the opportunity to discover life in our own solar system. How cool is that?”

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Europa Clipper starts countdown events
Time (hr/min/sec)	Event	Header cell – column 2
T-00:53:00	The launch leader goes to refuel	Row 0 – Cell 2
T-00:50:00	RP-1 refueling of the 1st stage begins	Row 1 – Cell 2
T-00:45:00	The loading with liquid oxygen of the 1st stage begins	Row 2 – Cell 2
T-00:35:00	RP-1 refueling of the 2nd stage begins	Row 3 – Cell 2
T-00:18:30	LOX loading of the 2nd stage	Row 4 – Cell 2
T-00:07:00	Falcon Heavy engine chilldown	Row 5 – Cell 2
T-00:00:59	Final flight computer checks before takeoff	Row 6 – Cell 2
T-00:00:45	The start leader makes his way to the start	Row 7 – Cell 2
T-00:00:20	Fuel tanks are pressurized for takeoff	Row 8 – Cell 2
T-00:00:06	Start the engine ignition sequence	Row 9 – Cell 2
T-00:00:00	Lift up!	Row 10 – Cell 2

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Schedule for the deployment of the Europa Clipper
Time (hr/min/sec)	Event	Header cell – column 2
T+00:01:07	Max Q	Row 0 – Cell 2
T+00:03:03	Engine shutdown of the side boosters	Row 1 – Cell 2
T+00:03:07	Separate side amplifiers	Row 2 – Cell 2
T+00:04:02	Main engine shutdown of the 1st stage	Row 3 – Cell 2
T+00:04:06	Stage separation	Row 4 – Cell 2
T+00:04:13	2nd stage engine start	Row 5 – Cell 2
T+00:04:31	Dropping the payload fairing	Row 6 – Cell 2
T+00:07:53	Engine shutdown 2nd stage 1	Row 7 – Cell 2
T+00:47:40	Restart the 2nd stage engine	Row 8 – Cell 2
T+00:50:56	Engine shutdown of the 2nd stage (final)	Row 9 – Cell 2
T+01:02:12	Europa Clipper is used	Row 10 – Cell 2

What happens if Europa Clipper cannot launch on October 14th?

If SpaceX fails to launch NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on October 14, the company will have at least two more chances this week.

SpaceX’s first backup launch date is here Tuesday, October 15, 11:59 a.m. EDT (1559 GMT)According to the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, weather forecasts indicate a 95% chance of good conditions at launch time. If SpaceX and NASA have to wait another day, they could try launching Europa Clipper Wednesday, October 16, 11:52 a.m. EDT (1552 GMT) as the start window moves earlier every day. There is an 80% chance of good starting conditions on Wednesday.

In fact, NASA and SpaceX could launch Europa Clipper every day until November 6th and still bring the spacecraft to the Jupiter system by April 11, 2030.

“So each date in the launch period ultimately changes the date on which we do a gravity assist on Mars and a gravity assist on Earth,” said Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “But otherwise all trajectories reach Jupiter on April 11, 2030.”

Editor’s note: Visit Space.com on October 14 for complete coverage of the Europa Clipper mission.

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What time will SpaceX launch NASA’s Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s icy moon today (and how to watch it online)?

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What time will SpaceX launch NASA’s Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s icy moon today (and how to watch it online)?

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