Europa has long been touted as a potential hotspot for extraterrestrials because of the salty ocean that lies beneath its icy crust.
NASA boffs are so intrigued they are going to send a spacecraft there, with the launch as early as 2020 and arrival "several years later".
And ahead of the mission, they have been handed a huge boost in the likelihood they may find alien lifeforms inhabiting the planet.
Scientists believe a process known as subduction – where plates dive beneath each other – is possible there massively boosting the chance of inhabitation.
Brandon Johnson – professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at Brown University – said: "If, indeed, there's life in that ocean, subduction offers a way to supply the nutrients it would need."