NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s ocean moon is not looking for life, but will see if life could be possible there. It’s a step that could help the bigger hunt beyond our solar system. A SpaceX Falcon Heavy carrying the largest satellite ever built for NASA’s planetary science missions lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 12:06 p.

Europa Clipper is designed to reach the Jupiter system in April 2030 and spend four years making close flybys of Europa, one of the most promising places in our solar system for the search for life beyond Earth. Europe's dominant feature is its vast salty ocean contained under a thick ice crust, which sometimes escapes through vast water plumes.

NASA just launched a spacecraft the size of a basketball court towards Jupiter's moon Europa. Here's what will happen over the next 10 years.

NASA launched a robotic spacecraft named Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s moons. Clipper will reach the ice-covered Jovian moon Europa in 2030 and spend several years collecting and sending valuable data on the moon’s potential habitability back to Earth.

Europa Clipper, the largest extraplanetary spacecraft ever built by NASA, took off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center Monday atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, headed toward Jupiter. The spacecraft,

Coverage of the launch is expected to begin at 11 a.m. ET and will be added to this story in the video player above. The launch window itself is set to open at 12:06 p.m. ET.

The spacecraft will skim as low as 16 miles (25 kilometers) above Europa — much closer than the few previous visitors.