Starship as an Enabler for Faster, More Ambitious Missions to Europa

Starship as an Enabler for Faster, More Ambitious Missions to Europa | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Starship as an Enabler for Faster, More Ambitious Missions to Europa Jack Kingdon This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Europa’s astrobiological promise is matched by the severity of its engineering constraints. The propulsive energy required to reach the surface of Europa diminishes potential science payloads to the point at which historical flagship mission plans, using expendable rockets like the SLS, would deliver less than 50kg to Europa, with a transit time of over 6 years. In this paper, we show the feasibility of the SpaceX Starship delivering payloads of 10000kg or more, directly to the surface of Europa, with transit times of less than 2.5 years. Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science Physical sciences/Physics Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 24 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 28 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 14 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 14 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 12 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8865139","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":594519553,"identity":"a3d1bcf6-2c2f-46f1-ab86-e83386d5cd49","order_by":0,"name":"Jack Kingdon","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA6klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYGZsYGAyDrAAPjAyCVAMQGRGthNiBKCxAAtTCAtbBJEKWFuf3wY8MZBXfs+o73HqvmqanLY2Bv3iaB12E9acaJGwyeJc88cy7tNs+xw8UMPMfK8GtpyGE++MDgcLLBjRyz27wNBxIbJHLM8Gvpf4PQUszbUJfYIP+GgJYZOcxAhx22A2lh5m1gBtrCQ0jLM2PDGQaHEyTPnDGWnAP0CxtPWrEFPi2G/cmPJXv+HLbnO95j+OENMMT42Q9vvIFXSwOETmyAibDhUw4C8lDanpDCUTAKRsEoGMEAACHbTopOpL6XAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of California, Santa Barbara","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jack","middleName":"","lastName":"Kingdon","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-12 19:24:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":103505312,"identity":"25ff1cd1-d13f-4b79-a2a9-7690a87c83ce","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-26 13:29:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":524638,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"gfwpkkxzdgrpgqqdytvtfcwzyhvkrjfr.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8865139/v1_covered_60357500-fc4d-47ec-83fd-5aa937d8f1c8.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003eStarship as an Enabler for Faster, More Ambitious Missions to Europa\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eEuropa’s astrobiological promise is matched by the severity of its engineering constraints. The propulsive energy required to reach the surface of Europa diminishes potential science payloads to the point at which historical flagship mission plans, using expendable rockets like the SLS, would deliver less than 50kg to Europa, with a transit time of over 6 years. In this paper, we show the feasibility of the SpaceX Starship delivering payloads of 10000kg or more, directly to the surface of Europa, with transit times of less than 2.5 years.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Starship as an Enabler for Faster, More Ambitious Missions to Europa","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-23 09:58:08","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8865139/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-03-24T10:53:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-03-06T20:22:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-02-28T23:05:11+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"232717101388098601548978731093298631907","date":"2026-02-20T14:42:44+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"36624056075431763331461305377274640245","date":"2026-02-18T14:55:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"164295114167195731898328619815579194173","date":"2026-02-18T14:37:43+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-18T14:14:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2026-02-16T10:16:05+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-02-14T14:06:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-02-14T14:04:37+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2026-02-12T19:15:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"3c948f0a-0bf1-4062-8e67-388ebaf90f3f","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"in-revision","subjectAreas":[{"id":63364495,"name":"Physical sciences/Astronomy and planetary science"},{"id":63364496,"name":"Physical sciences/Physics"},{"id":63364497,"name":"Earth and environmental sciences/Planetary science"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-24T11:08:30+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-23 09:58:08","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8865139","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8865139","identity":"rs-8865139","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}