SpaceX will launch NASA’s highly anticipated Europa Clipper mission on Thursday (Oct. 10), and you can watch the action live.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Thursday at 12:31 p.m. EDT (1631 GMT), kicking off the $5 billion Europa Clipper mission, which will assess the habitability of Jupiter’s ocean moon Europa.
You can watch the launch — the 10th-ever for the powerful Falcon Heavy — live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency. There are a few prelaunch activities to follow as well; here’s a rundown of the schedule.
Oct. 8: Europa Clipper science briefing
On Tuesday (Oct. 8) at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), NASA will host a briefing to discuss the science goals of Europa Clipper, which will reach Jupiter’s orbit in 2030 and study Europa over dozens of close flybys.
The briefing participants are:
- Gina DiBraccio, acting director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters
- Robert Pappalardo, project scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA’s JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)
- Haje Korth, deputy project scientist, Europa Clipper, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL)
- Cynthia Phillips, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
Oct. 9: NASA Social panel
A “NASA Social” panel, held at KSC, will stream on Wednesday (Oct. 9) at 2:00 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT). During such events, agency scientists, engineers and officials field questions from the public. You can submit a question to NASA’s X, Facebook and YouTube accounts using the #AskNASA hashtag.
The panelists are:
- Kate Calvin, chief scientist and senior climate advisor, NASA Headquarters
- Caley Burke, Flight Design Analyst, NASA’s Launch Services Program
- Erin Leonard, project staff scientist, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
- Juan Pablo León, systems testbed engineer, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
- Elizabeth Turtle, principal investigator, Europa Imaging System instrument, Europa Clipper, APL
Oct. 9: Prelaunch news conference
Then, at 3:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) or thereabouts on Wednesday, NASA will stream a prelaunch news conference. This event will follow the completion of Clipper’s launch readiness review, so the timing could change if that meeting is unexpectedly short or long.
The participants are:
- NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free
- Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Tim Dunn, launch director, NASA’s Launch Services Program
- Julianna Scheiman, director, NASA Science Missions, SpaceX
- Jordan Evans, project manager, Europa Clipper, NASA JPL
- Mike McAleenan, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, U.S. Space Force
Oct. 9: Europa Clipper rollout
At 5:30 p.m. EDT (2130 GMT) on Wednesday, NASA will begin its “Europa Clipper rollout show,” which presumably will cover the rollout of the probe and its Falcon Heavy rocket to KSC’s Pad 39A.
Oct. 10: Launch day!
NASA’s launch-day coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT) on Thursday (Oct. 10), almost exactly an hour before launch, which is scheduled to occur at 12:31 p.m. EDT (1631 GMT).
If Clipper doesn’t fly on Thursday, it will have other chances; the launch window extends through Oct. 31. Keep checking with Space.com, or NASA’s Europa Clipper blog, for updates.
