Nasa has now announced that the Spacex Falcon Heavy rocket will have to launch the space agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, reports Ars Technica.
The Europa Clipper is NASA’s most important mission to date to study the solar system in the 1920s. The spacecraft will be sent into orbit around Jupiter where it will study the ice-covered moon Europe during a total of 44 passes. Scientists believe that the moon may have large oceans below the surface and that there may be marine life there.
Previously, there were plans to launch the Europa Clipper with NASA’s own SLS rocket, but instead Spacex was hired for several different reasons.
Partly because the private space company offered a substantial discount of close to two billion dollars, but also because the SLS rocket would need modifications for the trip that would cost another billion dollars. Boeing, which is the main supplier for the core stage of SLS rockets, is also busy with the Artemis program, which aims to send humans to the moon by the mid-2020s.
The Europa Clipper is now scheduled to be launched in October 2024.
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