The American space agency NASA launched a spacecraft yesterday, October 14, on a Europa Clipper mission to search for life on Jupiter’s moon Europa. The launch took off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre on a mission that will cost $5 billion. 

The objective is to search for life on Europa and explore conditions suitable for life. Scientists believe that life on Europa is possible because of the presence of an ocean beneath its icy surface. The spacecraft will travel around 2.9 billion kilometres to reach Europa and the journey will take about six years. 

The spacecraft is expected to enter Jupiter's orbit in 2030 and subsequently, it will conduct 49 flybys of Europa. There are multiple tools aboard the spacecraft which will help discover the existence of water, energy and chemical compounds, known as the three key components for life.