NASA plans to launch Europa probe in 2024

NASA announced on July 23 that it plans to launch the Jupiter moon Europa probe in October 2024. The launch mission will be undertaken by the private space transportation company SpaceX, with a total contract price of $178 million.

NASA stated in a statement that the Europa spacecraft will be launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

NASA did not specify whether other companies participated in the bidding for the probe launch mission. According to Agence France Presse, NASA had originally planned to entrust the launch mission to its high thrust launch vehicle, the Space Launch System, but progress in rocket development has been slow. In contrast, the Falcon Heavy rocket is more mature and has undertaken multiple commercial and government projects since its maiden flight in 2018. Its takeoff thrust exceeds 22 million newtons, equivalent to the total engine thrust of approximately 18 Boeing 747 aircraft.

According to Business Insider website on the 24th, according to NASA's plan, the "Europa Clipper" will fly over Europa more than 40 times, with the closest distance between the two approaching 26 kilometers. The main task of the probe is to determine whether life may exist on Europa. It will carry cameras and spectrometers to generate high-resolution images of Europa's surface, map surface and atmospheric composition, measure ice crust composition and thickness, search for subsurface water bodies, and measure subsurface ocean depth and alkalinity. The radar on the detector will also penetrate the ice layer to search for liquid.