As a part of the Europa Jupiter System Mission

Europa Jupiter System Mission

The Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace was a proposed joint NASA/ESA unmanned space mission slated to launch around 2020 for the in-depth exploration of Jupiter's moons with a focus on Europa, Ganymede and Jupiter's magnetosphere...

 (EJSM), the Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) is a proposed orbiter

Orbiter

An orbiter is a space probe that orbits a planet.-Asteroids:*NEAR Shoemaker...

 probe

Space probe

A robotic spacecraft is a spacecraft with no humans on board, that is usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather than crewed operation, due to...

 slated for lift-off in 2020 and planned for detailed studies of Jupiter's moons Europa

Europa (moon)

Europa Slightly smaller than Earth's Moon, Europa is primarily made of silicate rock and probably has an iron core. It has a tenuous atmosphere composed primarily of oxygen. Its surface is composed of ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. This surface is striated by cracks and...

 and Io

Io (moon)

Io ) is the innermost of the four Galilean moons of the planet Jupiter and, with a diameter of , the fourth-largest moon in the Solar System. It was named after the mythological character of Io, a priestess of Hera who became one of the lovers of Zeus....

 as well as the Jovian magnetosphere. Among other things, its main goal is to look for evidence of a possible subsurface ocean which many scientists suspect could hold extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...

.