NASA has awarded Tesla Inc (TSLA) owner Elon Musk's private rocket company, SpaceX, a $178 million contract to launch a spacecraft to Jupiter's moon Europa, Reuters reports. The NASA mission, known as Europa Clipper, will blast off in October 2024 with the help of Musk's company Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

The Europa Clipper is designed to fly past Jupiter's moon Europa 45 times. According to NASA, The Europa Clipper spacecraft will produce high-resolution images of the surface, determine the moon's composition, and scan for geologic activity. SpaceX's 23-story Falcon Heavy, currently the most powerful operational space launch vehicle, flew its first commercial payload into orbit in 2019.

In the 2021 budget, NASA got permission to consider commercial alternatives to the agency's Space Launch System. As a result, it began officially looking for a commercial alternative.