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SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch NASA ocean moon explorer, saving the US billions - Teslarati

SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch NASA ocean moon explorer, saving the US billions - Teslarati

SpaceX Falcon Heavy to launch NASA ocean moon explorer, saving the US billions - Teslarati
Jul 25, 2021 1 min, 9 secs

Known as Europa Clipper, the six metric ton (~13,300 lb) spacecraft will instead launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket for less than $180M.

Instead, Europa Clipper will be able to launch one or two years earlier than SLS would have been ready and at a cost that’s practically a rounding error relative to the alternative.

NASA has selected Falcon Heavy to fly Europa Clipper!

Here's an explainer on why Congress finally relented and let NASA launch the Europa Clipper on a Falcon Heavy.

Europa Clipper is now scheduled to launch on an expendable Falcon Heavy rocket no earlier than a two-week window set to open in October 2024.

As part of the politicking to secure the billions of dollars needed to fund the mission, Culberson originally shackled Europa Clipper to NASA’s SLS rocket – now half a decade behind schedule and set to cost more than $23 billion before its first launch.

Ultimately, on launch alone, Falcon Heavy’s Europa Clipper launch will likely save taxpayers more than $2 billion – the likely minimum cost of a single SLS Cargo launch.

Due to issues with the rocket, Ars Technica also reports that Europa Clipper and SLS would have required at least $1 billion in modifications and upgrades to safely fly, meaning that choosing SpaceX will likely end up saving NASA more than $3 billion – equivalent to almost three-quarters of the entire Europa Clipper mission’s price tag.

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