NASA has launched a mission to search for life on Jupiter's moon.

The mission aims to determine whether there is life on Europa and if the moon is suitable for habitation.

“The unmanned spacecraft is named Europa Clipper after the ships that crossed Earth's oceans hundreds of years ago. After a journey of 1.8 billion miles, the spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter in 2030, where it will spend four years. Europa Clipper will assist scientists in assessing whether Europa has the conditions necessary to support life,” the agency's statement reads.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration considers this moon, which is slightly smaller than Earth, one of the most promising locations for the search for life in the Solar System.

“Based on observations from previous missions, its icy crust floats on a subsurface ocean containing more than twice the amount of water than all of Earth's oceans combined. According to mission scientist Kurt Nebur, Europa has become the first documented oceanic world — a class of planets and moons with abundant liquid water,” the source clarifies.

Other nearby moons, such as Jupiter's Ganymede and Saturn's Enceladus, are also considered oceanic worlds, but Europa's ocean bears the closest resemblance to Earth's.