A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
We have liftoff! NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft, launched from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT.
The Falcon Heavy’s 27 Merlin engines are generating more than 5 million pounds of thrust, quickly pushing the vehicle through the atmosphere and away from the Florida spaceport. The Falcon Heavy first stage consists of three Falcon 9 boosters strapped together — two sides and a central booster. An upper second stage atop the central booster carries the Europa Clipper spacecraft.
Coming up next, the launch vehicle will reach Max Q, or moment of peak mechanical stress on rocket, followed by side booster separation, then booster engine cutoff about two minutes later.
A reflection in the water shows NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft atop SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket at Launch Pad 39A on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of launch to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. Photo credit: SpaceX
Moments ago, mission teams polled “go” to begin fueling the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The Falcon Heavy is a two-stage rocket with a central core and two side boosters that uses RP-1 (a refined kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) to fuel its 27 Merlin engines, which combine to generate 5 million pounds of thrust. Loading of the RP-1 and LOX is now underway.
These two side boosters previously launched one year ago on NASA’s mission to explore the Psyche asteroid, Friday, Oct. 13, 2023. Europa Clipper will be the third Falcon Heavy mission for NASA’s Launch Services Program.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket stands at Launch Pad 39A on Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of launch to Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The spacecraft will complete nearly 50 flybys of Europa to determine if there are conditions suitable for life beyond Earth. Photo credit: SpaceXNASA just ramped up its coverage of today’s Europa Clipper launch, as the live broadcast with commentary has now begun, and you can watch coverage on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. Watch NASA launch coverage in Spanish on NASA+ and NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel.
The three main science objectives of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa are to determine the thickness of the moon’s icy shell and its interactions with the ocean below, to investigate its composition, and to characterize its geology. The mission’s detailed exploration of Europa will help scientists better understand the astrobiological potential for habitable worlds beyond our planet. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. This multidisciplinary field investigates the extremes of life on Earth to inform its search for life in the universe. It encompasses characterizing habitable environments in preparation to search for life.
NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will perform nearly 50 close flybys of Jupiter’s moon Europa, gathering detailed measurements to investigate the moon. The spacecraft, in orbit around Jupiter, will make 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.
You can also follow along on the launch blog, which originates from the NASA News Center here at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a few miles from Launch Complex 39A in Florida. There’s more to come, so stay with us.
Join the conversation, follow the launch, and get Europa Clipper mission updates from these accounts:
NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is poised to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in the distance behind the iconic countdown clock at the NASA News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Jamie Groh
We remain a “go” for launch, with the latest weather update from the U.S. Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicting a 95% chance of favorable weather today for liftoff. The primary weather concern for the launch area is the cumulus cloud rule.
Teams continue targeting liftoff of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission at 12:06 p.m. EDT on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The live launch broadcast will begin at 11 a.m. on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. NASA launch coverage in Spanish begins at 11 a.m. on NASA+ and NASA’s Spanish YouTube channel. You can also continue following along right here on the blog as we take you through the entire flight profile for the Europa Clipper mission.
NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Thursday, Oct. 10, launch attempt of the agency’s Europa Clipper mission due to anticipated hurricane conditions in the area. Hurricane Milton is expected to move from the Gulf of Mexico this week moving east to the Space Coast. High winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida’s east coast. Launch teams have secured NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft in SpaceX’s hangar at Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida ahead of the severe weather, and the center began hurricane preparations Sunday.
“The safety of launch team personnel is our highest priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft,” said Tim Dunn, senior launch director at NASA’s Launch Services Program.
On Oct. 4, workers transported NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket in the hangar as part of final launch preparations ahead of its journey to Jupiter’s icy moon. While Europa Clipper’s launch period opens Oct. 10, the window provides launch opportunities until Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Once the storm passes, recovery teams will assess the safety of the spaceport before personnel return to work. Then launch teams will assess the launch processing facilities for damage from the storm.
“Once we have the ‘all-clear’ followed by facility assessment and any recovery actions, we will determine the next launch opportunity for this NASA flagship mission,” said Dunn.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) team received telemetry from GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U), indicating the spacecraft is functioning nominally and is power positive. The NOAA GOES-U satellite has now safely deployed, and NOAA has acquired a signal. GOES-U will take about two weeks to reach geostationary orbit. Once there, the satellite will be renamed GOES-19.
NOAA oversees the GOES-R Series Program through an integrated NOAA-NASA office, managing the ground system, operating the satellites, and distributing their data to users worldwide.
On board GOES-U is a suite of seven instruments for collecting advanced imagery and atmospheric measurements, providing real-time mapping of lightning activity, and detecting approaching space weather hazards. Also onboard for the first time is the compact coronagraph that will observe the Sun’s outermost layer, called the corona, for large explosions of plasma that could produce geomagnetic solar storms.
NASA teams will complete an in-orbit checkout of the satellite’s instruments and systems prior to handing it over to NOAA’s Office of Satellite and Product Operations, which will verify the satellite’s science data.
The GOES-U satellite is the last of NOAA’s GOES-R Series satellites, the only system that provides persistent coverage of the Western Hemisphere that enables forecasters to predict, observe, and track local weather events on Earth and in space that affect public safety like thunderstorms, hurricanes, wildfires, and solar storms.
The environmental monitoring satellite constellation is planned to operate into the 2030s.
Looking forward, NOAA is working with NASA to develop the next generation of operational satellites in geostationary orbit, called Geostationary Extended Observations. NASA will manage the development and launch the satellites for NOAA.
For additional information on the GOES-U launch, visit:
NOAA’s GOES-U satellite separates from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket on its way to geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above Earth, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) has separated from the SpaceX Falcon Heavy second stage rocket.
The GOES-U spacecraft will now unfurl its solar arrays and work toward powering up and establishing communications with ground controllers.
Follow along while the team works to acquire signal from the satellite.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
The second stage of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy completes its final burn ahead of deployment of NOAA’s GOES-U mission on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The rocket’s second stage completed its final burn before it separates from the satellite. The satellite will separate from the rocket in about eight minutes. Then, about 15 minutes later, the satellite will deploy its solar array and should achieve a power positive state about 10 minutes.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
The second stage of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy during launch of NOAA’s GOES-U mission on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: NASA Television
The second stage of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy fired its engines for more than a minute, before experiencing the second stage engine cut off of this mission.
The GOES-U satellite now will coast for just under four hours before its final burn, establishing it in a geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above Earth.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
Side boosters from SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket land at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. Photo credit: SpaceX
The SpaceX Falcon Heavy’s dual first-stage side boosters have completed near-simultaneous touchdowns at Landing Zones 1 and 2 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Meanwhile, the rocket has completed the first second stage engine cut off. It will experience cut off twice more. The NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) GOES-U (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite U) satellite continues its journey to a geostationary orbit, about 22,236 miles above the equator. It will coast for just under 20 minutes before it experiences a short burn.
Continue checking NASA’s GOES blog for additional mission milestones, or join the conversation and get updates on social media by following these accounts:
