U. S. Mission to study Jupiter's atmosphere, moons, and magnetosphere. The Galileo spacecraft was carried into space and released in 1989 by the shuttle Atlantis. It used its own rocket booster to leave Earth orbit. The Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter in 1995 and completed its two-year primary mission before going on to explore Europa. The 14-year mission ended in 2003. Project Galileo website.