Your Guide to Assembly

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will launch Oct. 10, 2024, on a mission to determine if Jupiter’s moon Europa could support life below its icy surface. When fully assembled, Europa Clipper will be as large as a passenger van, with solar arrays long enough to span a basketball court – more than 100 feet (30 meters). Nearly every detail of the spacecraft is being handcrafted to enable the acquisition of this unprecedented science.

All nine instruments and the telecommunications system have been added to Europa Clipper, which is in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California. Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are inspecting and cleaning the spacecraft's solar arrays, which were delivered to KSC in February 2024. Later this year, Europa Clipper will be sealed in a protective container and shipped from JPL to KSC. When it arrives in Florida, the solar arrays will be permanently attached to the spacecraft, then folded away for launch.

Days before launch, the spacecraft will be encapsulated in a protective payload fairing before its mated with the launch vehicle, a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

Here’s what you need to know about how Europa Clipper is coming together.

Step 1: Hardware DevelopmentStep 1: Hardware Development

Hardware for Europa Clipper is developed at JPL and at partner institutions and contractor facilities across the United States and Europe. This includes the nine science instruments and other spacecraft components, such as the propulsion module, radio frequency module, solar arrays, star trackers, electronics vault, and more. The instruments and components are developed, tested, and prepared for shipping to JPL.

Step 2: Hardware ArrivalStep 2: Hardware Arrival

The start of the second phase marks the official start of ATLO. Engineers prepare the workspaces they will need to assemble and test Europa Clipper hardware at JPL. They make laboratory spaces ready, including “clean rooms”—spacecraft assembly facilities where dust and static electricity are kept at extremely low levels because they can interfere with or damage spacecraft hardware. These clean rooms are also important because they help us prevent the contamination of worlds relevant to the search for life by microbes from Earth.

Instruments and other spacecraft hardware arrive. Electrical support equipment is brought online, mechanical cabling is put in place, and instrumentation testing procedures are worked through. Up to this point hardware for spacecraft instruments and subsystems are tested at the component level—in other words, they have not yet been assembled into their final configuration.

Step 3: Spacecraft AssemblyStep 3: Spacecraft Assembly

Now Europa Clipper begins to take shape. Hardware has arrived, undergone testing, and is assembled by stacking pieces into what looks like a spacecraft. While the second phase of ATLO is focused on integration and testing prior to assembly, this third step is focused on system-level tests of the assembled configuration, including the software systems that will be used to fly the spacecraft.

Step 4: Environmental TestingStep 4: Environmental Testing

To reach Europa, the spacecraft must survive liftoff, the heat of the Sun, the cold of space, micrometeorites, and the radiation environment of Jupiter. Tests are conducted to demonstrate that the spacecraft can survive the environments it will experience in flight. That includes vibration tests—ensuring Europa Clipper and its components can withstand the stress and shaking during launch—and placing the spacecraft in a vacuum chamber as well as a space-Sun simulator. Many of these tests will take place in special buildings designed for environmental testing at JPL.

Step 5: Final Checkouts and Shipment to Launch SiteStep 5: Final Checkouts and Shipment to Launch Site

After environmental tests, Europa Clipper will be brought back to its assembly facilities for a thorough checkout, to make sure everything is still working correctly. All the instruments must be properly aligned and the spacecraft must be prepared for shipment to the launch site. This phase includes some disassembly—for example, the high-gain antenna and solar arrays are removed and crated separately. Support equipment for launch also must be shipped. Some will be transported by truck, while other components will be flown to the launch site.

Step 6: LaunchStep 6: Launch

Europa Clipper will launch from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in October 2024. The arrival of the spacecraft and associated equipment at KSC marks the start of the final phase of ATLO. The support equipment is unpacked, and the spacecraft is reassembled. Cables are laid out, and more baseline tests are conducted to ensure none of the systems were disturbed during shipment. Final checkouts are performed, the spacecraft is fueled, and then it goes to spacecraft integration with the launch vehicle. The rocket, joined with its payload, is rolled out to the launchpad. The countdown and ensuing launch mark the final steps of ATLO.

Get Involved: Build Your Own Spacecraft

Want to learn more about the Europa Clipper spacecraft? Build your own version of Europa Clipper at home! Snap a photo of your model and share it on social media using the hashtag #EuropaClipper.​

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  Paper Model

  Europa Clipper’s paper model is appropriate for students in grades 5+. Download the kit here.

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  Toy Bricks Model

  Build a 1/48th scale model of the Europa Clipper spacecraft using toy bricks. Download the instructions here.

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  3D Print

  Create your own 3D printed model of the Europa Clipper spacecraft. Download the file here.