NASA’s largest planetary mission spacecraft, the Europa Clipper, successfully arrived at its launch location in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center after a 2500-mile journey from its assembly laboratory in California.
At the start of the landmark project, Oxford Lasers provided high-precision, laser micromachining services in the creation of a specialised component for the propulsion system. Working with Europa Clipper’s Propulsion Subsystem Team, Oxford Lasers developed a laser technique in the micromachining of a miniaturised flowmeter.
It was a substantial achievement to have met the exacting requirements for the inflight mission of the Europe Clipper.
It was stated that Oxford Lasers was chosen to work on this one-of-a-kind component because Oxford Lasers displayed a thorough understanding of the challenges and a willingness for further development of the laser technique that would ultimately see the spacecraft one step closer to its scheduled launch in October 2024 for its journey to Jupiter’s moon, Europa.
Image: Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare to rotate the largest planetary mission spacecraft, Europe Clipper, to a vertical position on 28 May 2024 as part of prelaunch processing. Oxford Lasers contributed to the creation of a specialised component in the propulsion system. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett.
Contact: Martyn Knowles