Europa Clipper Spacecraft GNC Overview and Early Flight Performance

NASA JPL’s Europa Clipper spacecraft was launched on October 14, 2024 to study Jupiter’s moon Europa. To date, the spacecraft has completed much of its early commissioning and is in its final vehicle configuration as it continues its long Cruise phase enroute to Europa. This presentation will provide an overview of the Europa Clipper GNC design including the overall control system architecture, a description of the GNC sensors and actuators on the vehicle, and a description of the GNC modes, capabilities, and use-cases. Some of the key constraints and challenges along with their impacts and lessons learned will be discussed. Lastly, an assessment from the early flight performance data for the various controllers will be provided.