Science News Roundup: SpaceX lands NASA launch contract for mission to Jupiter's moon Europa; Former Virgin Galactic CEO to fly to space

The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement posted online.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Former Virgin Galactic CEO to fly to space - CNBC

Former chief executive officer of Virgin Galactic Holdings, George Whitesides, will fly to space on the aerospace company's next test spaceflight, CNBC reported on Friday. Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Galactic, flew to space earlier this month, beating Amazon.com Inc's Jeff Bezos to the final frontier. Branson announced the news about Whitesides during a party in New Mexico on July 11, following his own spaceflight, the report said.

SpaceX lands NASA launch contract for mission to Jupiter's moon Europa

Elon Musk's private rocket company SpaceX was awarded a $178 million launch services contract for NASA's first mission focusing on Jupiter's icy moon Europa and whether it may host conditions suitable for life, the space agency said on Friday. The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk's company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said in a statement posted online.

(With inputs from agencies.)