A semi-circular view of Europa, with its light blue and brown surface marked with brown lines.

Europa


There is strong evidence Jupiter's moon Europa has a saltwater ocean that may be one of the best places to look for environments where life could exist beyond Earth.

Facts About Europa

Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 moons. It's the sixth-closest moon to the planet.

Europa may be one of the most promising places in our solar system to find present-day environments suitable for some form of life beyond Earth. Scientists believe a saltwater ocean lies beneath its icy shell, holding twice as much water as Earth's global ocean. It also may have the chemical elements that are key ingredients to life. NASA launched Europa Clipper on Oct. 14, 2024, to determine whether there are places below Europa's surface that could support life.

Get the Facts
Europa has reddish brown lines and patches in this image from Juno.
This view of Jupiter's icy moon Europa was captured by JunoCam, the public engagement camera aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft, during the mission's close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022.
Image data: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS | Image processing: Kevin M. Gill CC BY 3.0

Europa by the Numbers

How big is Europa? How far is it from the Sun?

Use this tool to compare Europa to Earth, and other worlds.

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Europa rises above Jupiter in this image from New Horizons,
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft took this image of Europa hanging above Jupiter's cloud tops on Feb. 28, 2007, six hours after the spacecraft's closest approach to Jupiter.
NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute

Exploring Europa

NASA's Europa Clipper launched on Oct. 14, 2024, on the first mission to conduct a detailed science investigation of Europa.

Six robotic spacecraft have explored Europa, and scientists do regular observations of the moon with Hubble Space Telescope. Europa was first observed up close during the Jupiter flybys of Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. Most of what we know about the moon comes from observations by the Galileo mission. NASA's Juno spacecraft is orbiting Jupiter, and has made close flybys of Europa.

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Europa Clipper lifts off from the launch pad atop a white rocket with two smaller side boosters. A bright, white and orange pillar of fire shoots from the bottom of the rocket stack. White smoke billows around the launch pad. The SpaceX fixed service structure is to the left of the rocket. A white water tower with the SpaceX logo is to the right. Farther right is a small, round, gray structure.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:06 p.m. EDT on Oct. 14, 2024.
SpaceX

Europa Multimedia

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The largest portion of the Europa's surface can be seen at the highest resolution from Galileo.
The surface of Jupiter's icy moon Europa looms large in this color view, made from images taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in the late 1990s.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute

Learn More

  • An illustration of Europa Clipper flying past Europa with Jupiter behind the moon, and the spacecraft.

    Europa Clipper Website

    Europa Clipper’s main science goal is to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.

  • A semi-circular view of Europa, with its light blue and brown surface marked with brown lines.

    NASA Photojournal: Europa

    Images of Europa from NASA spacecraft.

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