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

Vaseline 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 toward Jupiter today (October 14), but if you want to see it live, you’ll need to know when to tune in.

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

“Clipper is the first NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying an ocean world beyond Earth,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free told reporters during a briefing Sunday evening (Oct. 13). Europe has long been on scientists’ shortlist of the most promising places that could support life beyond Earth. The Europa Clipper probe, Free said, aims to understand how habitable the icy moon really is. Here’s when and how you can watch the Europa Clipper mission launch online.

What time will the Europa Clipper be launched?

A triple booster SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft on the launch pad.

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

NASA is currently focusing Monday October 14th, at 12:06 PM EDT (1606 GMT) to launch the Europa Clipper mission on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The mission will have a 15-second launch window to take off, with SpaceX aiming for the end of that window. There is a 95% chance of good weather during launch.

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

“The SpaceX and NASA teams have done an excellent job keeping the hardware safe,” Free said in the briefing, adding that his heart goes out to all those affected by Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, which preceded it.

Can I watch the Europa Clipper launch online?

Watch live! SpaceX Falcon Heavy Launches NASA’s Europa Clipper – YouTube

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Yes, you can watch the Europa Clipper launch online. In fact, you have several options that you can tune into.

NASA will offer a free webcast in English ahead of the launch on its NASA+ streaming service, as well as on its NASA YouTube page, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT). Spacec.com will simulcast 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 alternate Spanish-language feed on NASA+ to describe the mission.

SpaceX, meanwhile, can 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 will the Europa Clipper mission last?

From start to finish, NASA’s Europa Clipper is expected to last nearly a decade, with the first 5.5 years spent traveling to Jupiter and Europa, a journey of 1.8 billion miles. However, the launch would only take just over an hour, from launch to deployment of the spacecraft, followed by a six-hour process to deploy the solar panels.

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

Once at Jupiter, the spacecraft will make a series of short flybys of Europa over the next four years to study the moon’s icy ocean with an array of nine different instruments and an experiment, all aimed at understanding the saltwater ocean below. the surface of the moon. A radar will probe the depths of that ocean, while other instruments will measure water plumes detected on Europa by the Hubble Space Telescope. And of course there’s the camera footage Clipper will take of Europa, NASA officials said.

The large Europa Clipper spacecraft with 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 up for flight atop its Falcon Heavy rocket. (Image credit: SpaceX)

“While we won’t look 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 in Europe will have profound implications for the study of astrobiology and for the way we view our place in this universe.”

Although the primary mission will end in June 2034, NASA may extend the Europa Clipper mission beyond that year, depending on the health of the spacecraft.

Below is the launch countdown and timeline for Europa Clipper’s deployment from its Falcon Heavy rocket. Unlike previous Falcon Heavy launches, SpaceX will not attempt to recover the first stage or side boosters on this flight to get as much performance out of the boosters as possible. Europa Clipper is the size of a tennis court with its solar panels deployed, making it NASA’s largest planetary probe yet, SpaceX said.

“Falcon Heavy gives Europa Clipper everything and sends the spacecraft to the furthest destination it has ever sent, meaning the mission requires maximum performance, so we won’t be bringing the boosters back tomorrow,” said Julianna Scheiman, SpaceX’s director of NASA Science missions at SpaceX, reporters said Sunday. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better mission to sacrifice boosters for, because we might have a chance to discover life in our own solar system. How cool is that?’

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Europa Clipper launches countdown events
Time (hour/min/sec)	Event	Header cell – Column 2
T-00:53:00	Launch director ‘go’ for refueling	Row 0 – Cell 2
T-00:50:00	Refueling of the first stage RP-1 begins	Row 1 – Cell 2
T-00:45:00	Liquid oxygen loading in the first stage begins	Row 2 – Cell 2
T-00:35:00	Refueling of the RP-1 of the 2nd phase begins	Row 3 – Cell 2
T-00:18:30	2nd phase LOX loading	Row 4 – Cell 2
T-00:07:00	Falcon Heavy engine chilldown	Row 5 – Cell 2
T-00:00:59	Final checks before launch of the flight computer	Row 6 – Cell 2
T-00:00:45	Launch director ‘go’ for launch	Row 7 – Cell 2
T-00:00:20	Propellant tanks are pressurized before launch	Row 8 – Cell 2
T-00:00:06	Start of the engine ignition sequence	Row 9 – Cell 2
T-00:00:00	Launch!	Row 10 – Cell 2

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Timeline for the implementation of Europa Clipper
Time (hour/min/sec)	Event	Header cell – Column 2
T+00:01:07	Max Q	Row 0 – Cell 2
T+00:03:03	Engine shutdown side boosters	Row 1 – Cell 2
T+00:03:07	Side boosters separated	Row 2 – Cell 2
T+00:04:02	1st phase main engine shutdown	Row 3 – Cell 2
T+00:04:06	Phase separation	Row 4 – Cell 2
T+00:04:13	2nd phase engine start	Row 5 – Cell 2
T+00:04:31	Throw payload tub overboard	Row 6 – Cell 2
T+00:07:53	Motor shutdown 2nd phase 1	Row 7 – Cell 2
T+00:47:40	2nd phase engine restart	Row 8 – Cell 2
T+00:50:56	Engine shutdown 2nd stage (final)	Row 9 – Cell 2
T+01:02:12	Europa Clipper is deployed	Row 10 – Cell 2

What if Europa can’t launch Clipper on October 14?

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

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

NASA and SpaceX could even launch Europa Clipper every day through November 6 and still deliver the spacecraft to the Jupiter system before April 11, 2030.

“So each of the dates in the launch window ultimately changes the date that we do gravity assist on Mars and gravity assist on Earth,” said Jordan Evans, Europa Clipper project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “But other than that, all trajectories will arrive at 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 the icy Jupiter moon today (and how can you watch it online)?

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

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