Meet Europa Clipper’s Solar Array ‘Wings’

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft is getting ready for launch, and its massive solar arrays were recently installed. These “wings” are so large because Jupiter receives only 3% to 4% of the sunlight Earth gets, and the arrays need to be able to collect enough sunlight to power the spacecraft through its mission.

With the arrays deployed, the spacecraft spans more than 100 feet (30.5 meters), which is nearly the distance from the Statue of Liberty’s toes to her head. The arrays will help the spacecraft make its 1.8 billion-mile (2.6 billion-kilometer) journey to Jupiter and power science instruments, electronics, heaters, and other subsystems during the years orbiting Jupiter and flying by the moon Europa. They also support six antennas that stick out perpendicularly from the panels. These antennas are for the REASON (Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface) instrument, which will probe for water within and beneath Europa’s ice.

Both wings were installed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in collaboration with the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and Airbus Netherlands. The solar arrays are so large only one can be installed and tested at a time. Both will be folded and stowed for launch, then will fully deploy in space.

Scientists believe the moon Europa has an ocean under its icy crust that may have conditions suitable for supporting life. Europa Clipper is expected to launch in October 2024 from Kennedy Space Center and arrive in the Jovian system in 2030.