When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, seen shortly before its encapsulation inside the payload fairing of its SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. (Image credit: SpaceX) We'll have to wait a bit longer to see NASA's Europa Clipper probe get off the ground. The $5 billion Europa Clipper mission had been scheduled to launch on Thursday (Oct. 10) atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), on Florida's Atlantic Coast. But Hurricane Milton has nixed that plan. "NASA and SpaceX are standing down from the Thursday, Oct. 10, launch attempt of the agency's Europa Clipper mission due to anticipated hurricane conditions in the area," NASA officials wrote in an update on Sunday (Oct. 6). "Hurricane Milton is expected to move from the Gulf of Mexico this week, moving east to the Space Coast," they added. "High winds and heavy rain are expected in the Cape Canaveral and Merritt Island regions on Florida's east coast." Launch teams have secured the probe inside SpaceX's hangar at KSC's historic Launch Complex 39A. The rest of the NASA center has begun preparing for Hurricane Milton's arrival as well, NASA officials said. "The safety of launch team personnel is our highest priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft," Tim Dunn, senior launch director at NASA's Launch Services Program, said in the update.