“Mission Milestone” tracker — follow a spacecraft from launch to destination
Welcome to the Mission Milestone Tracker!
Hey there, space enthusiast! You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to follow one of the most exciting journeys in human history, you just need curiosity and we’ve got the rest covered.
NASA’s Europa Clipper is on a mission 1.8 billion miles long, racing toward Jupiter’s icy moon Europa a world that may be hiding a liquid ocean beneath its frozen surface. Scientists believe it could be one of the most promising places in our entire solar system to find signs of life beyond Earth. Pretty extraordinary, right?
This tracker follows the spacecraft from its thunderous launch all the way to its final destination every gravity assist, every flyby, every nail-biting engine burn. Think of it as a flight tracker but for deep space.
What Is This Mission?
Europa Clipper is humanity’s most ambitious ocean-world investigation. It is the first mission designed to conduct a detailed study of Jupiter’s moon Europa with scientific evidence suggesting that the ingredients for life may exist on Europa right now. The spacecraft was launched from Kennedy Space Center on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket and will complete its 2.9 billion-kilometer course to Europa by April 2030.
The Full Journey — Milestone by Milestone
1. Launch (Oct 14, 2024)
Europa Clipper launched on October 14, 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 16:06 UTC. The total contract award amount for launch services was approximately $178 million.
2. Mars Gravity Assist (Feb–Mar 2025)
After launch, Europa Clipper headed toward Mars, coming to within 300 to 600 miles of the surface then slingshot back toward Earth, coming about 2,000 miles from the planet. Through these gravity assists, Europa Clipper will achieve the velocity needed to reach Jupiter in April 2030
3. Earth Gravity Assist (Dec 2026)
The spacecraft plans to fly by Mars in February 2025, then back by Earth in December 2026, using the gravity of each planet to increase its momentum.
4. Jupiter Orbit Insertion (Apr 11, 2030)
Europa Clipper’s tour of the Jupiter system begins April 11, 2030. The trajectory is designed to allow the spacecraft to observe as much of the moon Europa as possible while keeping the spacecraft as safe as possible from the hazardous radiation environment near the moon.
5. Europa Science Flybys (2031–2034) The spacecraft will make nearly 50 flybys of Europa at closest-approach altitudes as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above the surface, soaring over a different location during each flyby to scan nearly the entire moon. A metal box known as a radiation vault will shield Europa Clipper’s electronics from Jupiter’s harsh radiation, with walls of aluminum alloy about 0.3 inches (9.2 mm) thick.
6. Mission End — Ganymede Disposal (~2034)
The baseline trajectory is designed with 53 Europa flybys with the end of the mission utilizing the final several Europa flybys to target a disposal at Ganymede.
Europa Clipper — Mission Milestone Tracker
Why Does It Matter?
Europa Clipper’s three main science objectives are to understand the nature of the ice shell and the ocean beneath it, along with the moon’s composition and geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet.