Hurricane Milton live updates: Storm now a Category 5 as Florida ...

NASA has delayed a planned launch of a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa.

The agency’s Europa Clipper probe was scheduled to lift off Thursday atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

But NASA on Sunday announced that it will postpone the launch because of Hurricane Milton, which is forecasted to make landfall Wednesday along Florida’s Gulf Coast. After that, the storm is expected to move east, bringing high winds and heavy rain to Florida’s central and eastern regions, including Cape Canaveral, where the Kennedy Space Center is located.

“The safety of launch team personnel is our highest priority, and all precautions will be taken to protect the Europa Clipper spacecraft,” Tim Dunn, a senior launch director at NASA’s Launch Services Program, said in a statement.

Recovery teams will assess the spaceport and its facilities for damage following the storm, after which agency officials will set a new targeted launch date. NASA said launch opportunities for the Europa Clipper mission extend until Nov. 6.