Europa Clipper Flight System Overview

NASA’s Europa Clipper mission is the first focused exploration of an ocean world, with the main goal of assessing the habitability of Jupiter’s moon Europa. After entering Jupiter orbit in 2030, the Flight System (spacecraft plus instrument payload) will collect science data while flying past Europa a planned 49 times at typical closest approach distances of 25–100 km. The mission will investigate Europa’s interior, composition, and geology, and will search for and characterize any current activity including possible plumes. The mission’s science objectives will be accomplished with a payload component of the Flight System that includes both remote sensing instruments covering the ultraviolet, visible, infrared, and thermal infrared ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum, as well as an ice-penetrating radar, and in situ instruments, that will be used to study the magnetic field, dust, gas, and plasma surrounding Europa. The spacecraft component of the Flight System is designed to permit all science instruments to operate and gather science data simultaneously. This paper will outline the driving requirements for the overall spacecraft as well as describe the resulting spacecraft design and its key characteristics, including an overview of flight system-level integration and testing.