A graphic with a purple curved line bending upward from the bottom left side of the page to show what happens to Europa Clipper after launch. Small illustrations show the rocket at launch, booster separation, stage separations, fairing jettison, parking orbit, rocket burns to boost the spaceship toward Jupiter, and finally separation of the spacecraft from the remaining piece of the launch vehicle. A table on the right side of the illustration gives times for each of the events depicted by the graphic.

Europa Clipper Launch Ascent Timeline

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This graphic shows the expected timeline of milestones immediately following liftoff if the mission launches at the beginning of its launch period on Oct. 10, 2024. The actual times of milestones will differ slightly depending on the launch day. Regardless of launch date within the launch period, the spacecraft's separation from the rocket is expected to occur a little over an hour after liftoff.

Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech