There is now a provisional launch date for the maiden flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn heavy-lift rocket, which will send NASA’s ESCAPADE mission on its way to Mars.
NASA announced on Monday (26 August) that the mission will launch on 13 October at the earliest. The First New Glenn The rocket will lift off from Space Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, finally making its debut after years of delays in its development.
A launch on October 13 is within the time frame for Journey to Marswhich happens every 26 months when the Earth is in the correct alignment with the Red Planet to allow efficient travel.
The NASA mission ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers) consists of two probes that will be launched from Rocket Lab to investigate the effects of Solar wind on the Martian atmosphere. The spacecraft arrived in Florida on Aug. 18 to begin preparations for the New Glenn launch, NASA’s Launch Services Program said in a recent post on X.
“The successful delivery of the spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center represents a significant milestone and the culmination of over three years of dedicated teamwork by individuals from all areas of the project, especially our partners at Rocket Lab,” said Rob Lillis, ESCAPADE principal investigator and deputy director for planetary science at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory, in a statement from Rocket Lab.
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The two ESCAPADE spacecraft, named Blue and Gold, are designed to conduct simultaneous observations from different locations. Mars to measure the planet’s real-time response to Space weather. Specifically, the two spacecraft will measure plasma and magnetic fields around Mars to identify the processes that release atoms from the planet’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. This could help explain how the Red Planet’s climate has changed over time, the statement said.
If everything goes according to plan, ESCAPADE The probes will reach orbit around Mars in early September 2025. However, if there are delays with the New Glenn rocket that push the launch beyond the upcoming time frame, the next opportunity to fly to Mars will not be until late 2026.
