Overview
- Liftoff is targeted for about 2:45 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 36, with the twin spacecraft encapsulated for flight.
- Blue Origin says the primary objective is to deliver ESCAPADE to its planned trajectory, with a first-stage landing attempt treated as secondary after NG-1’s failed recovery in January.
- ESCAPADE will loiter near the Earth–Sun L2 point for roughly a year, execute an Earth flyby in November 2026, and arrive at Mars in 2027.
- Built by Rocket Lab and operated by UC Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory, the twin smallsats will conduct simultaneous measurements of Mars’ magnetosphere and atmospheric escape to inform future human exploration.
- The launch also hosts a Viasat communications demo for NASA’s Communications Services Project, and NASA indicates public coverage may be limited during the government shutdown.