SpaceX wins NASA contract to be part of Jupiter's moon program

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, won a $178 million NASA contract to provide launch services for the first mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. The mission, called Europa Clipper, will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from the NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said. The goal is to "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." Privately held Space X is led by Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk.

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