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Blue Origin Launches New Glenn to Mars Mission, Lands Booster in Key Reusability Milestone

After space‑weather holds, the twin probes take an L2‑first route that sets up a later Earth gravity assist.

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Darkness falls as a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket is prepped for launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station November 8, 2025. The rocket is scheduled to launch Sunday afternoon with NASA’s ESCAPADE mission. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket sits on the launch pad, shortly before being delayed by weather on Earth and in space.
© Blue Origin

Overview

  • New Glenn lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 13 and deployed NASA’s twin ESCAPADE spacecraft roughly 33 minutes after launch.
  • The first‑stage booster landed on the barge Jacklyn, marking the first successful New Glenn recovery after the NG‑1 landing failure in January.
  • Mission teams have entered commissioning with a major maneuver planned about 14 days after launch to route the spacecraft toward the Earth–sun L2 point.
  • The flight followed earlier scrubs for local weather, pad and range constraints, and a Nov. 12 stand‑down prompted by NOAA’s severe geomagnetic storm watch.
  • ESCAPADE is a low‑cost SIMPLEx mission budgeted at about $55 million, with roughly $18 million paid to Blue Origin for launch, and includes a Viasat communications demo on the upper stage.