Jul 23, 2021RELEASE 21-098NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper MissionNASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter's moon Europa.The Europa Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The total contract award amount for launch services is approximately $178 million.Europa Clipper will conduct a detailed survey of Europa and use a sophisticated suite of science instruments to investigate whether the icy moon has conditions suitable for life. Key mission objectives are to produce high-resolution images of Europa's surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity, measure the thickness of the moon’s icy shell, search for subsurface lakes, and determine the depth and salinity of Europa's ocean.NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy will manage the Europa Clipper launch service. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California leads the development of the Europa Clipper mission in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, executes program management of the Europa Clipper mission.For more information about the Europa Clipper mission, visit:https://europa.nasa.gov/-end-Monica Witt
NASA has selected Falcon Heavy to fly Europa Clipper! Launching in October 2024, this interplanetary mission will study whether Jupiter's icy moon Europa could have conditions suitable for life. go.nasa.gov/3iGmYKV
This is an absolute bargain. According to the White House OMB, launching on the Space Launch System rocket would have cost "over $2 billion." So SpaceX just saved the federal government $2 billion.
OIG says the marginal cost of a block 1 SLS is 886 million. That doesn't include the billion a year in operating costs for the facilities it uses, or ongoing development work
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-the-europa-clipper-missionQuoteThe total contract award amount for launch services is approximately $178 million.
The total contract award amount for launch services is approximately $178 million.
Anyone know the expected mode for this launch? Center expended or fully expendable?
Now that the contract is signed do we have definite information regarding trajectory and the presence of a kick stage?
Quote from: DreamyPickle on 07/24/2021 09:44 amNow that the contract is signed do we have definite information regarding trajectory and the presence of a kick stage?The RFP asked for a Mars-Earth gravity assist trajectory with 6065 kg to a 41.69 km2/s2 C3 requirement. Falcon Heavy expendable doesn't need a kick stage for that.
So no kick stage required and I would expect that the figures given in the LSP website have a bit of sandbagging.
Quote from: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/23/2021 08:20 pmhttps://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-awards-launch-services-contract-for-the-europa-clipper-missionQuoteThe total contract award amount for launch services is approximately $178 million.Worth noting: in many (most?) cases, NASA announces the total launch cost, including internal NASA costs, but here they actually tells us the contract price.
This is the first NASA flagship-class to be launched with SpaceX and also an amazing bargain.Now that the contract is signed do we have definite information regarding trajectory and the presence of a kick stage?
Quote from: DreamyPickle on 07/24/2021 09:44 amThis is the first NASA flagship-class to be launched with SpaceX and also an amazing bargain.Now that the contract is signed do we have definite information regarding trajectory and the presence of a kick stage?This is the second such mission. SpaceX is launching PACE on a Falcon 9 in late 2023.
Quote from: hopalong on 07/24/2021 01:08 pmSo no kick stage required and I would expect that the figures given in the LSP website have a bit of sandbagging.No sandbagging. Those are contractual numbers.
Quote from: envy887 on 07/24/2021 03:21 pmQuote from: DreamyPickle on 07/24/2021 09:44 amThis is the first NASA flagship-class to be launched with SpaceX and also an amazing bargain.Now that the contract is signed do we have definite information regarding trajectory and the presence of a kick stage?This is the second such mission. SpaceX is launching PACE on a Falcon 9 in late 2023.True, but you also have to admit that this one has quite a bigger pucker factor attached to it. Clipper is over 4x more expensive, it's assigned to a vehicle that at the point of selection has only had 3 flights vs PACE's 27-ish Block 5s. 1 of those 3 FH flights wasn't a Block 5 and neither were flown in expendable mode this mission calls for.