NASA’s Europa Clipper Mission on Track for 2030 Arrival at Europa

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, launched on October 14, 2024, continues to make progress on its ambitious journey toward Jupiter's icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft, which has already completed key milestones such as a Mars gravity assist on March 1, 2025, is preparing for its upcoming Earth gravity assist on December 3, 2026. These maneuvers are critical for positioning the spacecraft for its planned arrival in April 2030.

In addition to its trajectory adjustments, the mission is actively deploying and testing its scientific instruments—efforts that began with successful instrument deployments reported on November 27, 2024. Early in its journey, on February 4, 2025, Europa Clipper also captured its first images of stars, marking another significant step in confirming its operational capabilities as it prepares to investigate the subsurface ocean beneath Europa’s ice crust, a follow-up to findings from the Galileo spacecraft era.