Table 1 gives the project schedule.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 1998 | Expected approval of Project Asterius. Beginning of detailed design. |
| 1999-20000 | Beginning of spacecraft component testing (both simulated and real). Continuing detailed design. Beginning of software coding. |
| 2001 | Design frozen. Beginning of spacecraft construction. Performance testing. More software coding. |
| July 2001 | Begin preparations of Launch Vehicle. |
| 2002 | Continued construction and software coding. Mission planning: trajectory selection, landing site narrowing, order of events. |
| 2003 | Completion of software coding and spacecraft construction. |
| February 2004 | Approval from White House to launch a plutonium-carrying spacecraft. |
| March 2004 | Spacecraft launch. Beginning spacecraft operations. Continue mission planning. |
| March 2004-February 2009 | Continuing spacecraft operations. Continuing mission planning. |
| February 2009-March 2009 | Completion of mission planning. Spacecraft operations for Jovian orbit and apojove reduction. |
| March 2009-June 2009 | Spacecraft operations for Europan orbit. Beginning of scientific data acquisition (ice thickness). Analysis of data to determine best spot to land. |
| June 2009-June 2010 | Spacecraft operations for Europan surface. Acquisition of scientific data in earnest. Analysis of scientific data. Execution of planned mission. |
| June 2010- | End of primary mission. Continued analysis of scientific data. Possible extended mission. |