NASA chose Elon Musk’s SpaceX to launch an exploration of Jupiter’s moon Europa, which has a liquid ocean that can give birth to life. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said in a statement that the Europa Clippers mission scheduled to be launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida in October 2024 with a Falcon Heavy rocket is worth $178 million.

“It will be launched in October 2024! Our @EuropaClipper will ride on a Falcon heavy rocket and carry a set of sophisticated scientific instruments to investigate whether Jupiter’s icy moons have conditions suitable for life,” Thomas, deputy administrator of the institute Zurbuchen NASAThe Scientific Task Council, tweet.

Jupiter’s moon Europa is approximately 390 million miles (630 million kilometers) from Earth, and this journey is expected to take more than five years.

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NASA said in a statement that the Europa Clippers will conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter’s satellites and use “precision kit” scientific instruments to detect whether Jupiter’s satellites have conditions suitable for the existence of life. The Europa Clipper’s payload will include cameras and spectrometers to produce high-resolution images and maps of the surface and atmospheric composition, as well as radars that penetrate ice to find liquid water below.

“The main mission objective is to generate high-resolution images of Europa’s surface, determine its composition, look for signs of recent or ongoing geological activity, measure the thickness of the moon’s ice crust, search for underground lakes, and determine its depth and salinity. Ocean of Europa,” it added.

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Earlier, the mission was supposed to be taken off by NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which has not yet been put into use, but has been plagued by delays and cost overruns.

Since its first flight in 2018, Falcon Heavy has been deployed in commercial and government missions when it sent Elon Musk’s Tesla sports car into space. In recent years, it has been delivering cargo and crew to the International Space Station.